One member of a critically endangered species is scheduled to move on from Zoo Atlanta after nearly seven years.
Andazi, a 10-year-old female eastern black rhinoceros, will head to the Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas on March 30.
Andazi was born July 15, 2006 at Zoo Miami and arrived at Zoo Atlanta in April 2010. She gave birth to the first rhino calf ever born at the zoo, Jabari, in 2013.
The move is due to a breeding recommendation by the Rhino Species Survival Plan issued by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The program suggests Andazi goes to Little Rock to mate with a male there.
The species’ most immediate threat is illegal hunting for their horns, which are made of keratin — the same material found in human hair and fingernails. Rhino horn has been valued as highly as gold on black markets, according to a news release.
Dr. Hayley Murphy, the zoo's vice president of animal divisions, said this opportunity is important for Andazi and the zoological population of rhinos in North America.
“This is a species facing extinction within our lifetimes and may someday only persist in zoos without targeted conservation efforts,” Hayley said. “We’re hopeful that Andazi will have an opportunity to be a mother again, and we look forward to keeping up with her new chapter in Little Rock.”
Rhinos are expected to return to the Atlanta zoo with the opening of "Grand New View," which will include an expanded rhino habitat. That project is anticipated to be complete in early 2019.
Credit: Adam K. Thompson
Credit: Adam K. Thompson
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