| Paignton Zoo to breed black rhino | |
|  | | Sita explores her new surroundings at Paignton |
| | A breeding programme is planned at Paignton Zoo to help boost the world's dwindling population of black rhino.
The first step is the arrival of a female rhino called Sita. |
| | | Paignton Zoo's newest arrival has been settling in and will shortly meet her new mate.
Sita, a 12-year-old black rhino, has been brought to the zoo as part of the European Endangered Species Programme in the hope she will breed.
Dark, exotic and shy - Sita weighs 1,500 kilograms, which is roughly the weight of a small car.
She has come to Paignton from Berlin and has just gone on show to the public.
Her species is under threat. Black rhino mainly live in east and southern Africa, but their numbers are dwindling because of poaching and the destruction of their habitat.
People are the only real threat to adult rhinos. Their prominent horns have been partly to blame for the rhino's downfall.
Powdered rhino horn has been in demand for many centuries as a medicine. The horn is also carved into dagger handles.
 | | Sita meets the public for the first time |
Very soon Sita will come face to face with her new mate Joss, who is currently at Port Lympne Zoo in Kent.
"We are really pleased to be participating in this particular programme," said the zoo's curator of mammals Neil Bemment.
"We used to hold black rhinos in the past and this accommodation is better suited to black rhinos.
"They tend to live in pairs rather than the white rhinos which are herd orientated animals."
Experts believe there are only around 2,700 black rhinos left in the world.
The entire zoo population of the species is not much more than 200 and despite dedicated efforts, they are still very difficult to breed in captivity.
It is hoped that Sita and Joss, when he arrives, will play their part to help increase the population of a highly endangered species.
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