Drink Up, Thirsty Rhino

The new black rhino exhibit at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens wasn't quite finished at the time of my visit.  Sure, the public could walk through it, and rhinos were present and on display, but it was clear that finishing touches had to be made.  This was especially true with the landscaping.  When I walked by, horticulture staff were installing plants, watering them heavily to get them established.  The decent-sized pool for the rhinos (where pink-backed pelicans would later swim) was being filled up.

It made me slightly uncomfortable, I admit, to see all of this water and greenery being used for what was ostensibly a desert display, even if the water was recycled.

The thing is, that's probably what the rhinos themselves would want.  They don't care about landscaping, I mean, but a big pond to drink or wallow in, and plenty of vegetation?  Who wouldn't want that?  Black rhinos live (or lived, at any rate, before we decimated their numbers) in some arid landscapes, from the Sudan to the Kalahari.  Some of that habitat looks pretty bleak and desolate, and water might not be found as readily or as plentifully as they'd like.  Some of the other species in the collection of the Living Desert might never encounter fresh standing water in their lives.

It poses the question, do you want to provide optimal animal welfare, which in some (perhaps most) cases means making things easier on the animal than in the wild?  Or do you try to replicate natural conditions as much as possible, which can mean leaving the animal thirsty or hungry or hot or cold sometimes?

Unless there are special circumstances, such as preparing an animal for release into the wild, I tend to be a coddler.  If an animal is in the wild, it can, to the best of its ability, make all of its own decisions.  In a zoo setting, that responsibility falls to us, and we owe it to the animal to make it as comfortable and content as we can.