Lille zoo (FR) says goodbye to its two white rhino bulls Kimba and Genghis/Flannery/Gus. They spent five years there, the time needed for them to reach sexual maturity. In fact the zoo in the EEP act as a bachelor holder: it is normal for young male white rhinos to form bachelor groups until they start to have interest in the females.

Kimba was born in 2008 in Knowsley (UK) to mom Piglet and dad Budweiser. He joins two young females in Schwerin (DE) named Karen and Clara: the first one came from Copenaghen (DK) where she did not show oestrus cycle; the second one did not stand for the previous male in Schwerin zoo (DE), Limpopo. It is now hoped that the three animals could become a succesful breeding trio.

Genghis/Flannery/Gus was born in 2008 to the same father as Kimba (in fact they are half-brother) but different mother: Meru. He moved to Emmen (NL) where he will share the habitat with other three females: Jenny, Petra and Zahra. We do not have confirmation but the only one young enough to breed should be Zahra. We hope the duo will mate soon.

Lille zoo (FR) will welcome probably another duo of bachelores: one from Munster Zoo (DE) named Eno (his mother Jane is expecting a new baby as we announced before!) and the other one from La Boissiere (FR) named Mapenzi. At the moment we have no confirmation about their arrival.

For further reading you can check here (written in French) or here (written in German)