Twycross Zoo: Critically endangered rhino arrives at zoo to mate

There are just 5,000 eastern black rhinos like Sudan left in the wild

A rhinoceros whose species almost became extinct in 2011 has arrived at a zoo as part of a breeding programme.

Sudan has a new home at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, and conservationists hope the eastern black rhino will mate with Nandi, who came in 2019.

Their species is critically endangered, with just 5,000 left in the wild.

Neil Dorman, curator at the zoo, said they are "pleased his arrival went so smoothly".

He said: "There is a long way to go before Sudan and Nandi will be introduced to each other face-to-face, but there is no denying the significance that this will have on the conservation of the species in the long term."

Two-year-old Sudan arrived on Tuesday after travelling over 750 miles (1,200km) from Leipzig Zoo in Germany, the same zoo where Nandi lived for two decades.

Nandi was welcomed to Twycross Zoo in March 2019

The eastern black rhino was close to being declared extinct in 2011 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.

A baby eastern black rhino born at Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire in January was one of only an estimated 40 of the species born in the UK in the past 20 years.

Dr Sharon Redrobe, CEO of Twycross Zoo, said: "In what has been our most challenging year yet, Sudan is definitely the good news we've all been waiting for."

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