Which rhino has a flattened horn?
Through the dusty window of the feed truck, I catch a glimpse of two greater one-horned (Indian) rhinos at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, horn to horn. This is not necessarily an aggressive act; it may just be some playful sparring. Either way, it is important to note any potentially aggressive interactions. In order to take notes, I need to be able to identify the animals, and quickly. They take off running across the exhibit. The truck bumps and clangs along the dirt road as I try to keep up. I need to get a glance of any identifying characteristics. On my way, I pass two rhinos lounging in the wallow: Bhopu (flat horn) and Alta (tufts of hair on both ears). I cross those two off my list.
Often, the rhinos are standing in a clump, a sea of thick folded skin and large bodies. They are almost indistinguishable from one another. If I could base it on personality alone, it would be easy. In my opinion, greater one-horned rhinos have distinct, often comical personalities, but that’s not an accurate way to identify an animal. You need a mark, scar, something to tell you “Hey, that’s Asha, not Alta! But where to start—size? Sometimes that helps, but often they need to be standing next to another rhino for comparison. Here’s a hint: start by looking at their ears, horns, tail, and skin folds.
With the larger herds, say, the Indian blackbuck antelope, each individual has a number even though all 30 of them look almost exactly alike. These numbers are created using an ear-notching system. A colored ear tag and notch represents a specific number. The system takes a little getting used to, but once you’ve learned it, the animals begin to stand apart as individuals. The rhinos don’t have ear notches, but they do have natural markings that help us identify them. A good place to start is by comparing two rhinos and then move on from there. And here’s another tricky part: each keeper has his or her own system for telling them apart. Go out in the field with two different keepers, and they will teach you different ways of identifying these animals. Sound even more confusing? Well, I’ll help you get caught up. Or, you can cheat and use the photo reference book that we keep in the feed truck!
Let’s start with the easiest one: Bhopu. He is the largest rhino out in the Safari Park’s expansive Asian Plains habitat, and his horn is worn all the way down to a smooth, flattened mass. Next is Alta, who has tufts of hair sticking up from the tips of her ears and a large scar on her right hip skin fold. Then, we have Asha and her younger sister, Kaya. The back of Asha’s horn looks jagged and has a fin shape to it, and she has really hairy ears. Kaya has a pinched skin fold on her forehead and a small scar on her left rear skin fold. Then there’s Tanaya and her younger sister, Sundari. Tanaya has a kink at the bottom of her tail and very rounded ears. Sundari is about the same size as Kaya, but her forehead skin folds are flat. The sisters are almost always together—another hint! If you can identify Asha or Tanaya, then you have a good guess who her cohort is. Finally, there’s Bandhu, the youngest of the bunch. He is about the same size as Kaya and Sundari, but his horn is starting to grow broader than the girls’ horns.
As I catch up to the rhinos and do a quick scan of their markings, I learn that it is Kaya and Bandhu having a horn-to-horn interaction. They are approximately the same size, but I notice Kaya’s skin fold scar and Bandhu’s horn. The fact that they are sparring, though, is interesting. Bandhu just turned two years old in May and may already be developing too much of an interest in the females. Being a young male in this group, there won’t be room for him for long. He will mature and become valuable to another, separate group of females. To date, he is the first and only offspring from our newest breeding male, Bhopu (see post, Not Your Ordinary Rhino), making him an extremely valuable member of the Indian rhino population in the U.S. Bandhu will soon make a great addition as a breeding male at another facility to enhance the genetic diversity of this rhino species, but more on that next time.
Check out the photos in the slide show above and test your animal identification skills (answers are below). Maybe you can even find some identifying characteristics of your own! See if you can identify Alt, Asha, Bandhu, Bhopu, Kaya, Sundari, and Tanaya.
Jonnie Capiro is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read her previous post, Collecting Rhino Treasures: Poop!
Answers: Kaya, left, and Asha; Asha, Tanaya; Alta; Sundari; Bhopu; Bandhu
Loved the blog! Thanks for taking the time to describe in detail the identification techniques you use. My mind is spinning from trying to figure it out.
May I ask why Bhopu’s horn is worn down? Was it already that way when he came to the Safari Park? I am curious if he wore it down himself by constant rubbing or if his horn was removed.
Bhopu’s horn was worn down when he came to the Safari Park. The horn is made of keratin, like hair and fingernails, and can be shaped and worn down fairly easily from being rubbed on trees and rocks. Thanks for your comments!
In the second photo, Kaya is the one standing up (I think she may be misidentified as Asha).
I have a question about the Indian rhinos at the Zoo. There were 2 brothers, whom guests could brush and feed. What are their names? I think the older brother is named Suman, but I’m not sure. Thanks!
Moderator’s note: Their names are Soman and Surat. Here’s the most recent blog post about them: The Dirt on Rhinos.
I was at the Park in April and one of the caravan guides told me that Alta was in a boma about to give birth any day. Did she ever have the Calf?
Thanks for your question. Alta is pregnant according to our behavior records and hormone analyses, but she has not yet given birth. She will be a first-time mom, and with greater one-horned rhinos, it is sometimes a challenge to estimate an exact birth date. We often move pregnant rhinos into the boma for a few days at a time before they give birth, to get them used to being in there, away from the exhibit and the rest of the rhinos. It helps prepare them for the birth, which will occur in a maternity room of the boma. We often move them in and out of the boma for a few days at a time to get them accustomed to this process.