ERA ENDS AT HOUSTON ZOO WITH PASSING OF LONG TIME RESIDENT Southern White Rhino “Bu” 

ERA ENDS AT HOUSTON ZOO WITH PASSING OF LONG TIME RESIDENT Southern White Rhino “Bu” Lived at the Zoo Since 1971  

(HOUSTON) August 16, 2007 … An era that spanned four decades ended Thursday, August 16 with the passing of a long time Houston Zoo resident and gentle ambassador for his kind.  Samburu, a Southern white rhino passed away early Thursday morning.  Samburu, known as Bu to generators of zoo keepers and Zoo guests was 39 years old.

The Galleria was one year old and the big news downtown was the opening of One Shell Plaza when Bu arrived at the Zoo on July 8, 1971 with a young female Southern white rhino named Marcibit, affectionately known as Marci to her keepers.  Both Bu and Marci were born at the Umfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa.  Marci passed away last March at age 38.  Bu was 3 years old and Marci was 4 when they arrived at the Zoo.  Although Bu and Marci spent all of their lives together, they never produced any offspring.

Although he weighed almost 4,000 pounds, Bu is being remembered by his keepers as a very gentle animal who was always in the mood for a good scratch or brushing.  Both Bu and Marci were models for photographs promoting the annual Bowling for Rhinos fund raiser, sponsored each year by the Houston Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK).

While Bu and Marci will never be replaced in the hearts of Zoo guests and Zoo staff, the Zoo will honor their memory and move forward with plans for a new and larger mixed exhibit that would feature both rhinos and zebras.

The white rhino is an endangered species but is the most common of the five living species in terms of both wild population and numbers in zoos and sanctuaries.  The rhinoceros has been on earth for over 50 million years, and it is believed that over 100 separate species existed.  That number has dwindled to five: White, Black, Indian, Sumatran and Javan.  The Javan rhinoceros is the most endangered with a population hovering at 47.  Through the annual Bowling for Rhinos fund raiser, the Houston Zoo supports three sanctuaries that protect rhinos and their unique ecosystems: Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, Africa; the Bukit Barisa Selatan National Park in Java, Indonesia; and Ujung Kulon National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia.