Adorable rhino baby Thanos was born at Tierpark Berlin’s Pachyderm House at 7:35 a.m. on 12 September 2015. Right from the start he was a perky little fellow who had no problems feeding from proud mum Betty (22) and was soon trotting around, exploring his home.
Thanos and Betty have been a great team who experienced many joyful and playful moments together. But, eventually, baby rhinos grow up: soon it’s time for them to leave their mother’s side and make their own way in the world. Anyone who has watched Thanos develop over the past two years can confirm that this handsome and powerful rhino bull is a child no longer. Thanos is now a grown Indian rhinoceros, which is the world’s third-largest land mammal after the elephant and the white rhinoceros. Currently weighing in at over 600 kg, Thanos only needs a few more years to reach the same weight as his mighty father Belur, who was born at Tierpark Berlin on 1 January 1990.
“In the wild, young rhinoceroses leave their mothers and strike out on their own at the age of two,” says Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr Andreas Knieriem. “Male Indian rhinoceroses are solitary animals and Thanos is no exception.” So on Thursday morning the time came for Thanos to bid farewell to Betty and Berlin, and embark on the nine-hour trip to DierenPark Amersfoort in the Netherlands. Thanos arrived at Amersfoort in good spirits. Here, he will live alongside another two-year-old Indian rhino bull, Puri from Munich. The move was organised as part of the European Endangered Species Programme for this threatened species. Now, Thanos’ mother Betty and father Belur are once again the only Indian rhinoceroses at Tierpark Berlin.
Indian rhinoceroses, recognisable by their characteristic skin folds, are at home in northeastern India and Nepal. They are a threatened species, with only around 2,800 individuals living in the wild. But the situation was once much more critical: in 1905 only around 75 of these rhinos could be found. Thankfully, conservation measures in India and Nepal have now taken effect. Indian rhinoceros numbers in the wild are steadily increasing – thanks in part to the efforts of zoos.
