Meet Jozi: Oregon Zoo welcomes endangered black rhino
By KPTV Staff
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — The Oregon Zoo has welcomed another addition to its new Rhino Ridge habitat: a 9-year-old female eastern black rhino named Jozi.
Jozi joins King, a 3,000-pound eastern black rhino who arrived at the zoo on Sept. 10. The zoo says staff are hoping the pair will hit it off and eventually add to the population of the critically endangered species.
“Jozi’s been settling in well behind the scenes and enjoying some rhinoceros spa time,” said Michelle Schireman, senior keeper in the zoo’s Africa area. “She likes facials and loves warm showers.”
Jozi was born on Sept. 8, 2012, at the Pittsburgh Zoo. She moved to the Milwaukee County Zoo in 2016.
The 2,400 pound rhino has yet to meet King. The zoo says the two rhinos will continue to live apart for the time being, but they have had visual access to each other and seemed curious.
“There was a lot of back-and-forth vocalizing between them at first,” Schireman said. “They were like, ‘Hey, you! What’s going on over there?’ Just really nice, positive interactions. They’ll get to be in closer proximity soon and see what they think of each other.”
The zoo says Jozi and King belong to the eastern subspecies of black rhinos, which is considered critically endangered. In 2011, the western subspecies of black rhino was declared extinct.
Both of their transfers were recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for black rhinos.
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