Rhino and giraffe leave Great Plains Zoo

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Two former residents of the Great Plains Zoo have relocated to Florida and Oklahoma.

On Monday, the Great Plains Zoo announced that an eastern black rhinoceros named Komati and a reticulated giraffe named Solstice have moved on to other zoos.

Komati was born at the Great Plains Zoo in 2016, and is the third calf of parents Imara and Jubba. Komati has relocated to a zoo in Florida and is reportedly settling in well.

Solstice was born on the winter solstice in 2008 and is now living at a zoo in Oklahoma.

Both the Oklahoma and Florida zoos are Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited. Both moves were based on the recommendation of the AZA’s Giraffe and Black Rhino Species Survival Plan.

“Species survival breeding programs are essential to ensure genetic diversity and the physical health of the animals in our care,” said Great Plains Zoo CEO Becky Dewitz. “As an AZA-accredited zoo, we are dedicated to supporting SSP programs within our AZA community.”

Two giraffes, Chioke and Olivia Dee, still remain at the Great Plains Zoo, as well as Komati’s parents, Imara and Jubba.