You can watch the Southern White Rhinoceros talk by clicking play on the video below.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Hi everyone welcome to Perth Zoo's Rhino talk. My name is Luke and I'm one of the lucky keepers here at Perth Zoo that get to work with two amazing Southern White Rhinos we have here at the Zoo.
We have two males, the individual behind me currently. His name is Memphis and he's actually the father of the individual next door, his name being Bakari. Memphis was born in the U.S, you can guess where - Memphis. Born in 1987 he moved to us in 1990, so he's going to be celebrating his 33rd birthday in October later this year. Bakari his son was born back in 2005 and he'll be celebrating his 15th birthday in May this year.
Bakari is actually bigger than his dad. Memphis typically weighs about 2100kg. Bakari typically about 2200kg. So a good 100 kilos bigger than his dad. They're both normally grazers. Being herbivores, they're eating a variety of different grasses and hay types.
So enrichment definitely is a big part of their day to day life. Their eyesight is actually quite poor so they tend to rely on their sense of smell and their sense of hearing. So when we can engage those sense we probably get the most out of our enrichment practices. So different smells, be it different ungulate faeces. Similarly different herbs spread out around the exhibit. Memphis is a big fan of mint.
So both the boys are actually trained to respond to different cues Say "Memphis lift up", "lean in", "lift off" and from that we can actually get their feet up on to a block and we pretty much get in there and give them a giant rhino sized pedicure. If it's a bit of a wild and woolly day as well don't think you're not going to see them because these boys love the rain and the wind. You'll quite often see them get up a bit of a trot for a good run around their exhibit.
Brave the splatter-zone and learn all about Southern White Rhinoceros as one of our big boys enjoys an invigorating mud-bath.
You wouldn’t expect the tough, wrinkly hide of a rhinoceros to need protection from the sun or insects, but that’s exactly what happens when they coat themselves in glorious mud. It also cools them down in the heat of the African plains and feels just great! Come along and find out what other tactics rhinos use to make the most of their African habitat. Don’t forget to ask about their piles of poo…!