Salma, Moana, Lewa and Wami traveled nearly 10,000 kilometers from Germany and France to their new home at Mexico’s largest zoo.
Four white rhinos have arrived at the Guadalajara Zoo in Mexico as part of an international conservation program led by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). The group, made up of three females and one male, will stay in quarantine before being introduced to the public.
The rhinos are named Salma, Moana, Lewa and Wami. Salma, 5, and Moana, 9, came from Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, Germany. Lewa, 4, came from Safari de Peaugres in France, while Wami, 15, came from the Paris Zoological Park.
The animals left Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on October 20 and landed in Guadalajara the next day, completing a journey of nearly 10,000 kilometers. They were then transported under police escort from the city’s international airport to the zoo, where they were moved into specially prepared quarantine enclosures.
The move is part of EAZA’s ex situ conservation program, which works with zoos across several countries and continents to maintain healthy and genetically diverse populations of the species.
Ingo Schmidinger, a keeping specialist at Serengeti Park in Germany, said caretakers form a close bond with the animals but accept the separation because the shared goal is protecting the rhino population, SMNI News reported.
Guadalajara Zoo veterinarian Montserrat Carrasco noted that the relocation is a major change for the animals and is likely to cause some stress. During quarantine, veterinary teams will monitor how the rhinos adjust to Jalisco’s altitude, climate and new care routines.
The rhinos will remain in quarantine for several months before moving to the zoo’s Safari Masai Mara area, which is home to African species including elephants, giraffes and zebras. When the public can see them will depend on how well they settle in.
Why White Rhino Conservation Matters
The white rhino is the most numerous of the world’s rhino species, but its numbers have been falling in recent years. The global white rhino population dropped from 17,464 in 2023 to 15,752 at the end of 2024, largely due to poaching losses in South Africa, according to the International Rhino Foundation. Across all species, around 26,700 rhinos remain worldwide.
White rhinos are the largest of the five rhino species, with adults weighing well over 2,000 kilograms. There are two subspecies. Almost all white rhinos alive today are southern white rhinos, while the northern white rhino is functionally extinct, with only two females, Najin and Fatu, remaining under round-the-clock protection in Kenya.
Wild populations in Africa face pressure from poaching, habitat fragmentation and severe weather linked to climate change. Breeding programs in zoos aim to act as a safeguard by keeping a healthy population under professional care.
Soto RendĂłn said the zoo is joining the European program to help prevent the species from disappearing, and expressed hope that the four rhinos might breed in the future. He added that future generations could one day help repopulate African grasslands if conditions allow.
The arrival expands the Guadalajara Zoo’s role in international conservation, following its reception of greater one-horned rhinos in 2023. Opened in 1988, the zoo is the largest in Mexico by species population and is home to about 2,200 animals from around 360 species.
