Rhino Brothers Form Attachment

Posted at 10:16 am November 26, 2008 by Laura Weiner

Surat is the one standing in this photo.

Soman and Surat, our two Indian rhinoceros brothers, are doing great on Elephant Mesa at the San Diego Zoo (see Laura’s previous blog, Adventures in Rhino Keeping). Actually they are doing so well that I have been working with them and some other trainers to separate them a couple of times each day. You never know when you will need to medicate an animal or perform a veterinary procedure. It is always nice to be able to separate animals in a non-stressful way.

Surat has become attached, literally, to Soman. He follows behind Soman wherever he goes. It is quite cute but posed a problem for behavioral management. First we started separating them in the barn during the morning cleaning. Normally we would come into the barn and see them resting next to each other in the same barn. At first we would close the door in between them for a couple of minutes to observe their behavior. Soman didn’t seem to care that he was alone, but Surat was definitely agitated. He would bang his head (a normal rhino behavior) against the door, trying to get back to his favorite friend and brother. We chose to ignore this behavior and only put them back together when they were both calm. After a few days, they were separated during the cleaning time and given some of their food in their respective barns. It took about a week for Surat to realize that all of the banging in the world would not get him back with his brother. He has since begun to quietly eat his pellets and wait until they are both let out onto exhibit together.

Surat is the one standing in this photo as well.

My new goal is to separate them on exhibit so each can learn behaviors. I tried working behaviors with both at the same time, but they would just push the other out of the way to get more treats. I recruited another keeper, Lindsey, who had just transferred from the Wild Animal Park. We have been working on walking them around the exhibit, each one of us taking a rhino, holding one in place while the other walks, and even having them walk around one another. (We don’t actually go in the exhibit, of course, but walk along the back fence and have the rhino follow along.) They are both learning to come when called but still need to work on their focus. Both Surat and Soman see us as treat suppliers and will go to whoever is closest. But they have been improving rapidly and every day we switch things up to keep them on their toes.

Best of all, Surat finally realized that a belly rub is a good thing. For a while he would barge in on Soman and get in the way of the brushing session. Now Surat will stand still and raise his tail just a few inches (this means a happy rhino) while enjoying the attention.

Laura Weiner is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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9 Responses to “Rhino Brothers Form Attachment”

1. mikey says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am

   Oh poor Surat, cute story.
   Mike

2. Barbara P. says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 11:48 am

   I am not able to tell from the pictures, but is the younger brother smaller? Is he still growing? It would be fun to see a picture that shows them side by side, if that is possible. It’s so nice that they now have each other for company.

3. Kris says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 1:16 pm

   Yes, and wouldn’t a picture of the rhino’s enjoying a belly rub be great as well..?

4. Amy says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 1:25 pm

   Wow! Surat sounds like a pesky little brother! But it’s great that the two boys get along so well! And I’m sure with your excellent training efforts, they will both turn into mature and content rhino gentlemen! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

5. Laura says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 3:09 pm

   Barbara, if you look at the pictures you can see Surat is a bit smaller than Soman. Maybe about 500-1,000 lbs. smaller! Both of them still have alot of growing to do. They will reach a maximum of almost 6,000 lbs. when full grown. That won’t be until they are about 10 years old. These boys have a lot of growing and learning to do, and I am happy to teach them.

6. Anton says:
   November 28th, 2008 at 9:11 pm

   Thanks for your article. Great Job.

7. nancy from michigan says:
   November 30th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

   laura thanks for the up-date on the rhino brothers. they sound like a couple of charactors! the head banging is quite funny even though it is a normal thing for them to do! you would think they would have a giant head-ache……………! I guess rhinos even develope a close relationship with others. I know that a mother rhino is extremely protective and can be very dangerous where her baby is concerned. maybe brothers can be close too if brought up together! interesting I must say!!! thanks for letting us know what’s happening with these two brothers and how the training goes in he future. bye!

8. Margaret says:
   December 3rd, 2008 at 11:07 pm

   Thanks, Laura for the update on the rhino brothers. It is great to hear how well they are getting along and enjoying their friendship. It is great development for both of them.

9. max says:
   December 12th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

   i love sarat and soman

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