Taj is a greater one-horned rhino
by Rick LoBello, Education and Conservation Curator
We are so happy to see our first greater one-horned rhino at the Zoo. It was very difficult for our Zoo family when our Asian elephant Savannah died in January and Taj’s sweet personality is helping all of us during what was a very stressful time, especially for her keepers.
One-horned rhinos live in the forests, grasslands and inland wetlands of India and Nepal. Currently their numbers are increasing and we are already involved in supporting rhino conservation efforts in the Assam region of northern India where there is the largest concentration of one-horned rhinos.
Of note this area is also home to Asian elephants and many other rare species. At one time there were as few as 100 individuals, but thanks to strict protection by government authorities in India and Nepal, greater one-horned rhino populations have rebounded to more than 4,000 today.
Greater one-horned rhinos are big reaching over 6000 pounds making them the the largest of the five species of living rhinos.
The Zoo is planning to receive a second rhino in the future who will hopefully be a female companion to Taj. Photo by Ann and Steve Toon.
When you come to the Zoo and see Taj look for his prehensile lip that curls around the stems of grasses, leaves and shrubs that he eats. Greater one-horned rhinos are very aquatic and good swimmers. As soon as the main exhibit is ready with a wood shavings surface we expect that Taj will spend a lot of time in his pool. Some people seeing this species of rhino swimming actually confuse them for hippos!
Soon we plan to offer rhino encounter programs in the training yard so watch for our daily program schedule when you arrive.
Conservation Education 