I just received an email today from our friends at the Bronx Zoo in New York. They sent me a photo of the “Daddy” of Nikki’s calf that they took for us this past Monday. Nikki never met the father of her baby, although we assured her he was quite handsome.
We consulted with the Species Survival Plan® coordinator for Indian rhinos to determine which male was the best genetic match for Nikki and her offspring. Vinu was the lucky bachelor. We collected sperm from Vinu back in 2005 and stored it in CREW’s CryoBioBank until June 2009, when it was thawed and used to successfully inseminate our Nikki.
From the photo, it looks like bananas are one of Vinu’s favorite foods. Nikki loves to eat bananas too. A perfect match!
Handsome dude indeed!