elly and mishaki (aka gene)

the other sfzoo rhino residents are gene (his given name is mishaki) and elly, a mated pair of black rhinos. at 38 yrs old (birthday 1.1.71) elly has had fourteen babies! her last four babies were with gene (birthday is 7.12.87). her previous husband was stonewall and some of their grandbabies have been released back into the wild in africa! elly came to the zoo in 1974 from africa and gene (first name i was told for him, so its stuck in my mind) in 1994 from cinncinati. although they are housed in the same enclosure, becuz of elly's age they are separated. gene gene the dancing machine (my nickname for him!) still tries to be the romeo, but miss elly needs her space. you can still see them standing side by side even with a barrier between them. they currently still live in the enclosure near grizzly gulch, but will soon move to the new rhino home across from the big cat grotto's. ... update 11.9.09 both have been moved to their new home! gene was moved about a month ago, they waited to move elly becuz of adjustments to the barn floor that needed to be made so she didn't slip. i saw gene out for the first time on sat (was told he loves his new barn that's why he's been inside alot!) and he was dancin' around and having a good time in the sun! hope to see miss elly out soon!