The Potawatomi Zoo is thrilled to announce that Frankie, a 24-year-old male southern white rhino, arrived at the Zoo on April 2. He weighs about 5200 pounds and stands about 7 feet tall at the shoulder.

The Zoo will celebrate Frankie’s arrival on Saturday, April 25, with Franky’s Tacos at the Zoo from 10 am to 5 pm.

Frankie moved to the Potawatomi Zoo from Brevard Zoo in Florida, another Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facility. This move came from a recommendation by the Southern White Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan, a program that oversees population management of specific species within Association of Zoos and Aquariums member institutions and to enhance conservation of each species in the wild.

By housing a male southern white rhino, the Potawatomi Zoo is playing a part in rhino conservation. It frees up space for other zoos to continue rhino breeding programs and artificial insemination research. It also allows visitors the opportunity to experience a rhinoceros in person, learn about the importance of rhinos in the wild, and be inspired to share their experience with others.

At the beginning of the 20th-century it was estimated that over 500,000 rhinos of all species lived throughout the world. Today there are fewer than 30,000 wild rhinos across five subspecies in Africa and Asia.

Through conservation efforts, southern white rhinos have gone from being critically endangered to the least endangered rhino species in the wild. However, continued conservation of white rhinos, or any megafauna species, is critical to the protection of a vast and varied ecosystem. Because poaching and habitat loss are the biggest threat to rhinos around the world, cooperative preservation efforts between zoos, conservation organizations, and governments in the rhinos’ native regions are essential to save this species. These groups work together to monitor population trends, protect individual herds, and responsibly care for and breed animals in human care to maintain genetically diverse bloodlines with the hope of reintroducing rhinos to their native habitats.

Frankie’s safe move was helped by McAllister Rentals, who provided heavy equipment for moving a big rhino in a big crate.