Being around animals every day for most of my life, the days sometimes blend together. During conversations last week, I was reminded of the date and it occurred to me that a certain young, male Sumatran rhino is nearly a year old already! Throughout the last year I have thought of “Andatu” and his mother, “Ratu” often. Through keeping in touch with the folks who care for these rhinos it is always amazing to see how fast they grow. This morning the Cincinnati Zoo’s Director, Thane Maynard, sent a recent picture of Ratu and Andatu and again I was astounded. At first glance it’s difficult to tell who is who. Andatu is clearly thriving – he is a big boy!
Video from June, 2012…
It does not take much for my thoughts to drift back in time to a year ago and reminisce over how truly fortunate I was to be a part of this historic story. And it goes beyond just the Ratu and Andatu story. The fact that Andalas was born here at the Cincinnati Zoo nearly 12 years ago, and he has since sired a son who is now a year old, is a dream come true.
It really is a day dream/fantasy come true.
So the next year or two will float by and birthdays of the three offspring and one grand-offspring of Emi and Ipuh will come and go, and as the fantasy/dream continues there will be more, many more birthdays to celebrate.
To be continued…
Paul Reinhart Team Leader Ungulate Dept.
Such a beautiful creature. The success with breeding the animals at Cincinnati is fabulous!! Nice job! Love the names. So dislike when animals are given human names. Should be original and something lovely from its country of origin like these great choices. And yet…Romo would be a lovely choice too….to honor the man who cared and gave so much for the ungulates in his lifetime.