Sex export:

Ohlala! Rhino “Malou” becomes French for love

"Malou" is a four-year-old rhino that was born in Upper Austria and has now been moved to the south of France. The reason for the action is species protection.(Bild: Zoo Schmiding/Peter Sterns)

For the sake of love, or more prosaically, for the sake of reproduction: the one and a half ton rhino "Malou" was transported in a video-monitored container from Schmiding Zoo for 16 hours across hlab Europe in order to mate with a conspecific in the south of France. A special kind of "sex export".

Malou" has moved! And there was a lot behind it, because "Malou" is a one and a half ton female white rhino that had to be transported across half of Europe - not an "easy" task in the truest sense of the word.

"Malou" was hoisted onto a vehicle in a container by crane(Bild: Zoo Schmiding/Peter Sterns)

From Wednesday to Thursday, the four-year-old female traveled for 16 hours in a special container from Schmiding to Barben Zoo in the south of France. "She had carrots, pellets and hay in the container. In other words, what she likes," says Daniela Artmann, zoologist in Schmiding, describing how the unusual move went.

After long training, "amour" will soon be waiting
The transporter, which was under constant video surveillance, stopped every few hours to check on how "Malou" was doing. The fact that the female, who was born in Schmiding in 2020, climbed into the container so easily on her big day is thanks to weeks of training. Animal keepers practiced again and again with their "Malou" to get in, be fed inside and then be able to get out again in a relaxed manner. But the undertaking was also a logistical challenge.

"Malou weighs 1.4 or 1.5 tons, and the container also weighed quite a bit. You really need proper cranes," says Artmann. In total, the loaded transport crate weighed around 3.5 tons. "A smaller vehicle took it out of the zoo first, then it was reloaded again," says Artmann.

The team at Schmiding Zoo spent weeks training the rhino to get into the vehicle(Bild: Zoo Schmiding/Peter Sterns)

The female rhino undertook the long journey because she is to find "amour" - love - in France. "She has been relocated to find a new partner there," explains the zoologist. The aim: species conservation, i.e. the reproduction of white rhinos. It was not easy for the staff at Schmiding Zoo to say goodbye to "Malou": "Like her mother, she is a spirited rhino who is very popular with her keepers due to her lively character," says zookeeper Can Hasibe.

Her conspecifics are able to console her over the farewell: There are still four adult rhinos living in Schmiding.