THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190363
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 99 lines
As the song and saying go, even the birds and the bees do it.
But not Rufus and Jesse, the Virginia Zoo's male and female white rhinoceroses, who have had what may be one of the longest courtships in animal history.
The four-ton pair have been together for 22 years now, and though they've often engaged in typical rhino breeding behavior - chasing, sparring and vocalizing - they haven't yet mated.
It's a pretty weighty matter, at least as far as zoo officials are concerned, because the white rhinoceros is threatened with extinction. There are 300 in zoos worldwide and about 4,000 living in the wild.
Rufus and Jesse haven't done what comes naturally, say the experts, because they need the natural environment of a herd.
The muddled affair may have a solution. Zoo officials plan to add two more white rhinos within the next few years when the first phase of a 10-year master plan expansion is completed.
Then, a state-of-the-art African habitat will provide space for more of Rufus and Jesse's kind, and the zoo likely will join others nationwide that are actively working to help the dwindling white rhino population survive.
Ground-breaking for the $15 million project will be in the fall of 1997. The city will match funds raised in the zoo's capital campaign, now under way. Proceeds from Saturday's seventh annual ZooToDo will go to help the expansion.
It's an evening that typically brings out plenty of party animals, zoo officials say. Last year, more than 1,200 folks showed up for the feeding frenzy and dance bash. Required dress for the affair is ``creative black-tie,'' and many who attend carry the directive to the extreme, wearing such wild outfits as tuxedo jackets with boxer shorts and sneakers. Some even dress up as animals.
Dr. Joseph Daniel, Old Dominion University professor and expert on rhinoceros behavior, said that herd interaction is essential for successful breeding of white rhinos.
Most zoos keep only one or two of the massive beasts that are native to Africa, but successful captive breeding populations have been fostered in zoos with herds, he said.
A Knoxville, Tenn., zoo, for example, keeps a dominant male and three female rhinos in each of two compounds, and the females have produced and nurtured babies. A San Diego zoo has had much the same result.
Rufus and Jesse are still in their reproductive prime, said Daniel, who's conducted a number of studies on the pair and published the results. Life span for captive white rhinos is about 45 years, he said.
Rufus's lackluster attitude toward sex has puzzled zoo officials for years, and other solutions have been tried.
A few years back, they propped a life-size mock-up of Rufus near the compound in an effort to provoke jealousy. Then, it was reasoned, Rufus would pull himself together and do the right thing. But even the 10-foot-long, 5-foot high imposter failed to elicit a possessive response from him.
And a plan to convert some Chesapeake hog buildings into a more spacious environment for Rufus and Jesse and other white rhinos fell through for lack of money.
Other efforts to rouse Rufus have included mirrors and the introduced scent of other rhinos. But it's all been to no avail.
In the past, the use of rhinoceros horn as an aphrodisiac contributed to the decline of the species, while today, demand for the substance in traditional Oriental medicine keeps the black market price high and encourages poaching. Until recently, the use of rhino horn for ceremonial dagger handles in Yemen accounted for about half the demand, Daniel said.
Rufus and Jesse came to the Virginia Zoo when they were about a year old. Originally from Africa, the pair took up residence in a three-quarter-acre, concrete-enclosed compound.
Lafayette Park, site of the zoo, comprises 53 acres in the heart of Norfolk and was set aside as public space in 1896. At first, it was just a people place, but within a few years, animals had been added to enhance the pleasure of visitors.
In 1974, the park's animal area was fenced separately, and the zoo was accredited in 1987. The former Friends of the Zoo organization became the Virginia Zoological Society in 1989 and has since grown to include 12,000 members from Hampton Roads cities.
The zoo also boasts a newly renovated amphitheater for educational programs that opened in July. The Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach donated funds for the project, which were matched by the city of Norfolk.
On a recent balmy afternoon, Rufus and Jesse dozed side-by-side in the shade.
Jesse, the female, is smaller than Rufus, and her gray hide is lighter and smoother, said Heidi Fuciarelli, who cares for them. Jesse's left foreleg was propped up delicately, and her eyes, smaller then Rufus', blinked open and shut as she napped.
Rufus' leathery hide is more wrinkled and rough than Jesse's.
``She's the boss and dictates who eats first,'' Fuciarelli said.
``He'll stand here all day if you'll scratch him,'' she said, reaching under Rufus's belly as he stood in his indoor stall. He propped his big square jaw on some hay and closed his eyes in apparent contentment.
``She behaves like she should,'' said Fuciarelli, nodding toward Jesse. ``He just won't do the thing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON/The Virginian-Pilot
The Norfolk Zoo's white rhinos Rufus, left, and Jesse are among the
approximately 4,300 left in the world. The species is threatened
with extinction.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK ZOO RHINOCEROS by CNB