This Sunday (1 May), Orana Wildlife Park’s 400kg Rhino calf, Eco, celebrates his first birthday! The ‘little’ Rhino has developed nicely over the past year and visitors have enjoyed meeting him at his daily feed time of 3.20pm.

Animal Collection Manager, Ian Adams, says Eco is a real character: “He has a good positive attitude and it is an absolute delight to work with him. We are fortunate to be able to get hands on with him.”

“It has also been pleasing to see Eco’s mother, Tamu (8) – a first time mum, develop such a great bond with Eco. Tamu’s pregnancy was seventeen months long and on arrival Eco weighed 55kg. One year later he tips the scales at around 400kg but we still consider him a little guy compared to the other Rhinos who weigh around 2,000kg.”

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Following Eco’s much anticipated arrival, Park staff auctioned the naming rights for the calf on TradeMe as a fundraising initiative. Over the course of the auction, almost 48,000 people viewed the listing and 350 questions were answered by staff who were able to discuss a range of topics such as the plight of Rhinos.

The auction winner was Carpet Court Christchurch City who paid $5,350. Laura-Jean Fitzgibbon of Carpet Court Christchurch City says: “The link between Eco and Carpet Court is based upon a unique story. ‘Eco-strand’ is a revolutionary new carpet fibre that survived a thorough durability test from a Black Rhino named Ricko in America. Over a 14 day period, Ricko lived on the Eco-strand carpet and afterwards the carpet was washed and it immediately bounced back into shape and all the stains were cleaned with just warm water and a mild bio-friendly detergent!”

“It was a privilege for us to name the delightful calf and it was an easy decision to name him Eco owing to the story of Eco-strand. We still have our photos of little Eco in the showroom and the staff feel proud to be connected to him.”

Eco is just the second Rhino to be born at Orana and both of his parents are captive born animals. The fact the Park has produced two calves is a great achievement considering the re-productive rate of captive born Rhinos is very low. “Our first calf was named Ibutho and he was the first White Rhino born in New Zealand. Cyrano (24) is the father of Eco and Ibutho. Tamu and another female, Katala, were transferred to Orana in 2007 from Perth Zoo in an effort to breed more Rhinos at the Park, so staff were delighted that all the work involved in that transfer resulted in Eco” adds Ian.

White Rhinos are classified as Near Threatened (IUCN) mainly due to poaching for their horn. In some cultures powdered Rhino horn is considered a medicine and aphrodisiac and elsewhere princes believe that their dagger handles must be made of Rhino horn. The horn is made of keratin, the same fibrous protein that toenails, fingernails and hair are made of, and has no proven medicinal value.

“Rhinos greatest threat comes from poachers after their horns as knife handles and in traditional medicines. Not buying products like this that contain endangered species will help them immensely”.

“It is nice to be celebrating a first birthday this weekend – it is something positive for one of our special animals in light of all that has happened in Christchurch recently” concludes Ian.

ENDS

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