Big Fat Baby Rhino.

What a difference a year makes!We were blessed to see Anan, the captivating little rhino who weighed about as much as I did when we saw her in January 2010.

 But this was January 2011, and Anan is now 17 months old. She's about half the size of her mom!

Still very much a rhino child, but well on her way to the 6,000 pound mark she'll reach as an adult. She's eating  hay and rhino pellets now.

I was astounded at how she'd filled in, filled up, grown overall. She even has a nice little horn!

My friend Sandy Brown, who was in another group visiting the barn before we did, was lucky enough to see Anan nurse from Zenzele, and she shared this photo with me. Ack ack ack!! She has to lie down to nurse now!

photo by Sandy Brown

Just thought you'd enjoy a little follow-up on the magical rhino girl Anan and her beautiful mother Zenzele. Many thanks to Sandy Brown!

I'm just back from the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida. Took both kids with me. We had the most delightful time on Florida's beaches and in her scrubland. Oooh. That doesn't sound so good, does it? Put it this way. We loved Florida, and I'll tell you all about it as soon as I can. Until then, please read FloridaCracker's post about the meeting of two like-minded bloggers. And then make sure you bookmark his blog, because it is the BEST, and not just because he said nice things about me and my babies. If you like animals, nature, food, funk, fun, Florida, and graceful, sometimes loopy writing, check him out.

Rhino Rodeo

We're at the rhino barn at The Wilds near Cumberland, Ohio.

Three-month old southern white rhino Anan wanted to show how sporty she is, how fast she accelerates.

Anan moves out at a smart trot. Rhino feet are so soft and springy they look like they're wearing bedroom slippers full of Flubber.

If the 40 degree weather bothered them, they didn't show it. They seemed to love the sun.

When I visited South Africa in August, it dropped into the 20's each night. Yes, it gets cold there! But their winter quarters at The Wilds are well-lit and very warm. 

I couldn't get enough of this little rhino child.

I did let myself think about what might happen if I got between a wild mother rhino and her child.

You wouldn't want to do that. Mother Zenzele, not to be outdone by her charming child, banked sharply and charged right at us, obviously enjoying the way we all leapt back as she swerved at the last minute. "This," one of the keepers said, "is why we keep them behind four-inch steel bars."

I marvel each time I visit The Wilds that here in southeast Ohio, not even an hour from my home, endangered animals are being wonderfully cared for, multiplying

acting as insurance for wild populations, reservoirs of precious genetic material

the most precious coin of conservation's realm. 

Baby White Rhino

The kids come along. They play in the snow and suffer the cold, because they know there are huge rewards for good kids at The Wilds. 

Although there are no monkeys at The Wilds,  Phoebe is wearing her monkey hat just for the occasion. I love this picture. Sasquatch Takes Five.

Phoebe and Liam team up with an adorable little guy named Evan and off they go, doing what kids do on grassy hills.

 They build a little snowman, and my camera captures the moment it topples over. Oops! Pushed too hard on the last tooth.

So Liam and Evan build another one, and give him an oakleaf rooster comb.

We are here for the rhinos. We climb on a hand-painted school bus that reeks faintly of rhino and head down to the barns.

We are here especially to see Anan, a three-month old southern white rhino.  She's the fourth white rhino born at the facility. And even better, she is the daughter of Zenzele, who was also born at The Wilds six years earlier! She weighed about 100 pounds at birth, but she was gaining rapidly.

 This photo doesn't look like much, but as it was taken I was planting a kiss on Anan's velvety nose, mmm mmm mmm.

 Such a little peanut head. The Wilds has a wonderful record of rhino births--eleven to date--seven southern whites and four one-horned Asian rhinos. The animals have 160 acres to graze on, and enough individuals to form a viable social structure. 

We adjourned to the outside, where we got some more rhino lore from a keeper. 

 This photo of Zenzele rolling reminds me of something from Fantasia, with elephants in tutus. Such a lusciously rounded lady she is! Her nice pink udder looks like a bikini bottom.

 I love rhino 'tocks.

More Anan anon.