Part of our responsibility of housing animals under human care is to expand our knowledge of these animals to continuously improve their well-being, especially for a keystone species such as the southern white rhinoceros. One of the major ways we accomplish this is through scientific research. Safari West has a research committee comprised of members with wide-ranging backgrounds, each with their own set of expertise. Through this committee we are able to participate in a variety of research projects that allow us to advance scientific knowledge in zoological facilities, improve the well-being of the animals in our collection, and provide a better understanding of native wildlife that lives on the Safari West property.

Safari West is participating in a collaborative research project conducted through the American Institute of Rhinoceros Science (AIRS), an organization led by expert rhino scientists. With this research project, AIRS aims to advance the science of rhino husbandry through nationwide participation. Safari West is proud to be able to contribute to this research that is investigating physical fitness, reproduction and well-being. Through positive reinforcement training, both of our rhinos, Eesha and Ongava, have voluntarily participated in blood draws, wearing anklet activity trackers and providing heart rate, bioimpedance and morphometric measurements. We started our involvement in this collaborative research before we had confirmation of Eesha’s pregnancy. Southern white rhinos can be challenging to successfully breed under human care, especially if the herd size is small, as is the situation we have at Safari West with just one male and one female. Due to the success of their breeding, the data provided will be much more informative to the well-being of southern white rhinos under human care.

In addition, Safari West is conducting our own, internally driven, research project related to behavior and reproduction utilizing thermographic imaging. We have anecdotally seen evidence that supports the ability to detect and monitor pregnancy in our female southern white rhinoceros by monitoring changes in heat signatures through the use of thermography. We are able to utilize the test results from voluntary blood draws and data from behavioral observations to support the changes we are seeing in the thermographic images. The use of this technology could translate to research done in situ, as it allows for non-invasive data collection. We plan to continue this research project after Eesha has her calf, to ascertain the use of thermographic imaging to monitor estrus cycles in southern white rhinos and, hopefully, repeat the research if Eesha successfully breeds again!