All That Glitters is Not Gold...

Dublin Zoo has introduced a sparkling new method to monitor our rhinos.

As we plan to breed from two of our female white rhinos we need to keep a check on the hormone levels of Ashanti and Zanta. The easiest way to do this is via faecal samples.

The faeces are collected twice weekly and sent to the lab for hormone testing. However, because the young females are kept together it has proven impossible to tell their droppings apart.

That was until somebody had a sparkling idea.

The keepers came up with a novel technique that involves adding different coloured glitter, namely silver and blue, to the rhinos’ feed.

The colourful result is an effective identification method to test with certainty the hormone levels of the rhinos.

The keepers at Dublin Zoo are delighted with the results and early indications are that Ashanti may be pregnant.

The Zoo vet, John Bainbridge has been closely monitoring the project. He had this to say: “This is a nice simple, harmless way of getting the results we need. When the faecal samples are collected with the different colour glitter, it’s clear which sample belongs to Ashanti and which sample belongs to Zanta. The glitter is a safe, non toxic method of testing the hormone levels in the rhinos”.

Dublin Zoo has sent a sample of Ashanti’s droppings

to a laboratory for testing and expects results early in the New Year.

Helen Clarke, Team Leader over the African Plains said:

“We are really hoping Ashanti is pregnant. In order to gain good information on the hormone levels we needed to take samples each week over a three month period. We were struggling until we had this idea and are so pleased that it seems to be working. It’s an ideal way of getting good samples without separating the rhinos or worse still - following them round all day with a shovel! ”