A greater one-horned rhinoceros at the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance died Saturday after months of illness, .
Twelve-year-old Rupert from a zoo in San Diego. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan had recommended that Rupert breed with Tensing, the Denver Zoo’s 18-year-old female rhino.
Rupert started experiencing gastrointestinal issues about a month later, and his care team had been managing recurring symptoms and ups and downs since June, the zoo wrote. Rupert underwent multiple treatments, including procedures under standing sedation.
His health declined significantly over the weekend, and he died Saturday surrounded by his caretakers.
Rupert’s illness is considered an individual case, and zoo officials aren’t concerned for Tensing’s health. The two rhinos were never formally introduced, but lived near one another in the rhino barn, the zoo said.
In his time at the zoo, Rupert could often be seen playing with a big boomer ball, lounging in the pool or soaking up attention from animal care specialists, the zoo wrote.
“When Rupert arrived here, I felt an instant acceptance from him, and I doubt I was alone in that feeling. The first time I met him, he approached me and put his sweet nose in my palm and readily leaned into scratches from all the new people in his life,” one caretaker said in the zoo’s post. “His loss is hard, and the lack of his presence is deeply felt.”
Rupert is the second rhino to die at the zoo this year. Rudisha, the zoo’s beloved 32-year-old black rhino, died in May after entering end-of-life care for age-related mobility challenges and chronic health issues.
