NORFOLK — The Virginia Zoo welcomed an 11-year-old male white rhino over the weekend.
Sibindi — who arrived from White Oak Conservation Center in Florida — will join Bora and Zina in the Africa Okavango Delta section of the zoo.
“We’re so pleased to have our rhino herd complete,” Greg Bockheim, executive director of the zoo, said. “This process has taken nearly three y—ears and with less than 20,000 white rhinos left in the wild, we are hoping this trio can contribute to the future of the species.”
Sibindi weighs around 3,800 pounds and is nearly six feet tall. He’ll be viewable from the windows inside the rhino barn but will be in quarantine for 30 days before gradually being introduced to the outdoor exhibit.
According to the zoo, there are two subspecies of the white rhino and both are listed as near-threatened. In the 1960s there were more than 70,000 African rhinos. Today, there are fewer than 20,000.
