Behavior and Reproduction in Southern White Rhino Using Thermographic Imaging

Part of our responsibility of housing animals under human care is to expand our knowledge to continuously improve their wellbeing, especially for a keystone species such as the southern white rhinoceros. One of the major ways we accomplish this is through scientific research.

With the oversight of our research committee, Safari West is conducting research related to behavior and reproduction in southern white rhinos, utilizing thermographic imaging. We have seen evidence that supports the ability to detect and monitor pregnancy in our female southern white rhinoceros by monitoring changes in heat signatures on her abdomen and teats. Images are captured weekly with the FLIR® E5 XT and FLIR® E76 cameras. FLIR® Thermal Studio Suite allows us to look at temperature variation over time to determine thermal patterns. The use of this technology to detect and monitor pregnancy is innovative and, to our knowledge, has only been researched in a few…