On April 28–29, we were honored to welcome a diverse group of animal care professionals, veterinarians, and conservation leaders, all dedicated to advancing the future of rhino protection and health, with experts joining us from local facilities like the Fort Worth Zoo to international institutions as far away as South Africa.
The event was designed with three core goals in mind — providing a vital reference for rhino husbandry, discussing the specific challenges of managing the species in captive environments, and creating a community dialogue focused on collaborative problem-solving.
Fossil Rim currently participates in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for two rhino species: the Southern White Rhino, which is classified as near-threatened, and the South-Central Black Rhino, which is critically endangered. With poaching remaining a severe threat to wild populations, maintaining a robust gene pool through managed breeding is critical to their long-term survival.
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Conservation Through Partnership
The initiative was originally conceived as an internal event for Fossil Rim Wildlife Center staff, but interest quickly spread to other organizations. Julie Swenson, the event leader and associate veterinarian, attributed the symposium’s rapid growth to the unique appeal of the species and a gap in professional resources.
“I think rhinos are a very charismatic animal, which obviously helps,” Swenson said, “but there is also a large need for more information to be shared among the rhino community. There is a great deal of information scattered throughout multiple locations in the husbandry and veterinary literature, but this is not always easy to find or correlate together.”
The event featured a diverse group of speakers who shared their specialized knowledge and field experience, something Swenson was keen on attendees taking away.
“I hope that attendees went home feeling more confident in their rhino knowledge and with a long list of other rhino caregivers that they can reach out to when they have questions in the future,” Swenson said.
Beyond the dense technical discussions, the event served as the platform for relationship building that Swenson had hoped, “Anytime that we can get a group of professionals in one room to collaborate and spitball different ideas of what we see every single day, it’s a unique and invaluable opportunity,” said Nadia Miecznikowski, a caretaker at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Strengthening these ties allows institutions to better coordinate and lean on one another for support.
Miecznikowski also added the veterinary insights she gained will be essential for her work back in Oklahoma. “I got to learn a lot about the veterinary side that I can take back with me,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll brew up more questions, which will be great for networking because now we have more friends in the community.”
While Fossil Rim has hosted similar events, such as the Southern Black Rhino Sustainability Program (SBRSP) meeting and the Canid and Hyenid Husbandry Course, the rhino symposium was the first of its kind – while we won’t host the event annually, a symposium every few years is something being discussed to keep the community updated.