Breeding pair of rhinos, new to the Kansas City Zoo, getting along just fine

For years, visitors to the Kansas City Zoo have seen only one rhinoceros on exhibit at a time, even though the animal park has had as many as four of the iconic African beasts.

Keepers have grown used to being asked if the single rhino is lonely.

The answer is no, they are usually solitary animals. But two recent acquisitions, who are comfortable with each other, went on exhibit together Friday and will be out all weekend.

The breeding pair are 10-year-old female Zuri and 7-year-old male Ruka, newly arrived from the Oregon Zoo in Portland. She weighs about 2,900 pounds and he weighs about 2,600 pounds but is still growing. They both enjoy wallowing in the mud.

In the future, the pair will take turns on exhibit with another male rhino, Werikhe.

All of the Kansas City Zoo's rhinos are of the eastern black subspecies.

This story was originally published June 8, 2018 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Breeding pair of rhinos, new to the Kansas City Zoo, getting along just fine."