Lansing’s
Potter Park Zoo had been without black rhinos for three years. When their older rhinos passed away, the Zoo decided to take the opportunity to renovate the rhino exhibit. Though the $1.5 million renovation brought much-needed space and amenities to the area, visitors and zoo staff alike were more than ready to have rhinos back in the exhibit by the time they arrived in June.
“It’s great to have them here,” says Payal Ravani, Marketing Coordinator for Potter Park Zoo. “They are definitely a favorite among visitors here, and the exhibit allows people to get pretty close to them.”
The new black rhinos are a 4-year-old female named Doppsee from Kansas and 7-year-old Jello from Miami. The pair was selected by Black Rhino Species Survival Plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as ideal breeding partners. As Doppsee is still too young, however, they’ll each remain in separate areas for two years.
Though Jello and Doppsee arrived in June, their arrival was celebrated last week after all final renovations were done to their exhibit.
“It’s a little bit of trial and error when we get new animals in a new exhibit,” says Ravani. “We had to repair some things that were broken when they arrived.”
The renovations to the rhino exhibit include doubling of the space available to the animals, watering holes, shaded areas and more.
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