 Have
you hugged a rhino today?
Greetings:
It’s
May, International Rhino Month. While we really don’t
get a chance to hug the rhinos you may come out and enjoy their
antics. Check out their
legs while they are lying down, you will almost always see two legs on one
side of their bodies with the feet on the ground. This lets
them get up into a standing
position quite quickly if the need arises. Observe the ear movements, rather
like the rotation of a sonar device picking up sounds. The greatest treasure
for me in rhino observation is to see one belly up with all four legs in the
air while it takes its mud bath in the wallows. These help protect it from
insects and sunburn and I would imagine help in cooling off
during the summer. See what
other characteristics you can discover about rhinos if you take a little extra
time to park near their enclosures.
I’ll
be looking for you.
p.s. Happy
Memorial Day. 
Jan
Bussey
Education
Specialist
About
Jan
What's
Gnu?
•
Atwater’s prairie chickens are starting to hatch
• Magnum
is now in the front pasture. The bison have been moved into
Magnum’s
old pasture to give the front pasture a chance to rest
for a while.
If you
have any questions about Magnum, send us an email at editor@fossilrim.org |
Magnum |
• Newton
and Marvin, our two adult male white rhinos, have traded places.
Newton is now in the bull pen.
•
We have a new animal care specialist, David Geurkink. David
came here from the San Antonio Zoo where he was a keeper
for six years.
He worked with rhinos, hoof stock, big cats and elephants.
Before that he was with a private ranch called Kerrville
Camera Safari.
Read
more about David >>
More
Gnus >>
Announcement
from our Executive Director
 Dear Subscriber,
I
am pleased to announce that Fossil Rim, White Oak Conservation
Center (Yulee, FL), The Wilds (Cumberland, OH), The Wild
Animal Park (Escondido, CA) of the San Diego Zoological
Society (CA), and the Conservation Research Center (Front
Royal, VA) of the Smithsonian Institution's National
Zoological Park (Washington, DC) have joined together as
a consortium
through a memorandum of agreement.
Read
full story >>
Friends
of Fossil Rim
 A
True Cheetah Challenge
by Haily Summerford
Public Educations Specialist
City of Fort Worth
My lifetime
dream came true the summer of 1999, when I went on safari
in Southern Africa. I knew instantly that I must come back
not as a tourist, but in a very different setting. I wanted
in some way to make a difference as an environmental educator
and help Africa’s struggling wildlife.
Here is
my journey
In all
began in 2001, when I was connected with an organization
called Cheetah Outreach in South Africa...
Continued >>
Meet
'Valentino'
 by
Kelley, Fossil Rim Intern
Valentino,
one of the many baby Blackbucks at Fossil Rim, was orphaned
in mid-February after his mother died. Unlike the other
baby antelope, which you may see on your drive, frolicking
around the pastures with their mothers, Valentino is being
hand-reared by animal care staff. He was orphaned in mid-February
after his mother died and we believe he was born on or around
Valentine’s Day, hence his name.
Even from
the very first day, Valentino has been very affectionate
towards his
human family and has an amusing curiosity. He is
only a couple of months old, but already he zooms around
his pen like a pro, weaving around obstacles on a dime. At
feeding
time he excitedly trots up to us and greets us with a grunt.
Currently, at about 34 pounds, he gets formula three times
a day, but he also nibbles on grasses and feed, which his
diet will consist of when he is eventually turned out into
the pastures.
Continued >>
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