Olivia, ‘great auntie’ to younger rhinos, dies at North Carolina Zoo

ASHEBORO, N.C. (WITN) – The North Carolina Zoo has introduced that one in all its oldest residents, Olivia the rhino, handed away on Thursday.

The zoo says that Olivia was a southern white rhinoceros who had been with them for greater than 30 years.

WITN is advised that the 54-year-old rhino had lived on the zoo since 1987 when she arrived as a breeding pair with male rhino Stan.

No offspring have been born to them, however the zoo says of their later years, Olivia and Stan lived collectively on the zoo’s spacious rhino annex (out of view of the general public) in retirement for a number of years till Stan died in 2019.

After 2019, Olivia was reintroduced to the opposite animals on the zoo’s 40-acre Watani Grasslands and have become a “nice auntie” to the youthful rhinos. The zoo says southern rhinos are essentially the most social of the rhino species and dwell collectively in groupings referred to as “crashes.”

Rhino populations are threatened by poaching and habitat loss, and Olivia served as an envoy for the plight of rhinos within the wild, as one of many oldest feminine rhinos within the Affiliation of Zoos and Aquariums venues.

Dr. Jb Minter, the zoo’s director of animal well being and chief veterinarian, mentioned they’d been carefully monitoring Olivia for any indicators of declining well being for the previous few years.

“The fruits of a number of well being situations led to a big lower in her high quality of life and her potential to get round comfortably. The animal care and veterinary groups then made the troublesome choice to euthanize Oliva,” Minter mentioned.

Zookeeper Anna Hinson cared for the rhino for a number of years.

“I’ll actually miss Liv and her sassy angle,” Hinson mentioned. “Over time, she mellowed fairly a bit, and I want the zoo’s newer keepers had been round to see ol’ Liv in her prime. Even in her golden years, it’s really exceptional how she caught to her routine. I’ll eternally be richer for having labored together with her.”

The zoo tells WITN that southern white rhinos have been hunted to close extinction by the start of the twentieth century for his or her horns. At this time, populations within the wild are estimated to be between about 19,000 and 21,000, and nonetheless face vital threats from poaching and habitat loss.

The North Carolina Zoo says it now has a rhino crash of eight females Linda, Equipment, Natalie, Abby, Nandi, Bonnie, Jojo and Mguu.

Donations in remembrance of Olivia and for rhino conservation all over the world could be made by visiting on-line right here.

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