Gram, our Indian rhino, has made great progress in his crate training (see previous blog, How Do You Crate Train a Rhino?). After he was comfortable standing in the chute, I opened the door to his crate. The crate is a large wooden box with metal support beams all around. There is a detachable door on the front and back along with bars that drop vertically from the top. Quite a contraption for a rhino road trip! It weighs about 1,800 pounds (815 kilograms), is about 12 feet (3.6 meters) long and 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall.

Once the sliding door to the crate was opened, Gram was very curious. He sniffed around very cautiously and made some typical snorting sounds. Those usually mean he is nervous or upset about something. This was a new challenge for him but he was willing to take it on. He stepped up into the crate slowly, looking all around. I went to the other side and called him in. I asked him to target with his nose as normal. He walked right up and targeted for a sweet potato. What a good boy!

Since Gram has such sensitive hearing, he was a little upset when one of the tour buses went by and he backed out. But he came right back in when called. It took a few minutes for him to get used to the sounds of buses, people, and all the other noises at the San Diego Zoo, as these things sound different from inside a crate.

He was given two days to get used to the crate, and then it was time to start feeding him inside. He now receives all of his breakfast every morning in the crate. He walks right in and starts eating. He will spend about an hour every morning right when the Zoo opens, munching away on hay and grain.

When it is time for him to back out I ask him to “back up.” He takes his time, as most rhinos do. They don’t have a very busy schedule! I tap on his legs to get him to back up. He has to make sure every last bit of hay has been consumed, so sometimes it is quite a lengthy process. When he makes it all the way out of the crate, he is given a piece of browse–a fig branch is his favorite–to chew on while the bar to the chute is replaced. He likes to come over and say hi as the bar is being replaced and I get to give him a nice big rhino hug.

Next week: more crate behaviors and a rhino physical.

Laura Weiner is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Posted in Animal Stories, Default, General | Link to this post

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Scroll to the end to leave a comment. Pinging is not allowed.