High Desert Oasis is home to four animal species and has three yards, which means one species often hangs out behind the scenes. The High Desert Oasis animals rotate areas throughout the day, so check back throughout your visit to see which animals are in the outdoor spaces.
Themed after the desert regions of Africa and Asia, the High Desert Oasis houses Southern white rhinos, a bachelor herd of Hartmann’s mountain zebras, Mongolian wild horses, and Bactrian camels. Guests can also find Hartmann’s mountain zebras at the African Savanna exhibit.
This unique exhibit provides a stimulating environment for our ungulate (hoofed four-legged) herds by providing them with large yard habitats containing a range of activities and space. These rotating habitats promote natural behaviors that give these species the physical and mental stimulation they need to stay healthy and happy. Guests can also learn about caring for these ungulates through daily programs offered in the summer. Check our daily schedule for times and details.
Range:
Hartmann’s mountain zebras range from South West Africa into extreme southwest Angola.
Habitat:
Slopes and plateaus in mountainous areas.
Characteristics:
Unlike other zebras, the mountain zebra has a dewlap, or fold of skin, hanging from the throat. The mane is short and erect, with no forelock. The mountain zebra is a good climber and has very hard and pointed hooves compared to other zebras and horses.
Behavior:
Mountain zebra are mainly active in the early morning and late afternoon to sunset. Grazing and resting occupy most of the daylight hours. During cold weather, they shelter in wooded areas or caves, and go to east-facing slopes to warm up in the morning sunshine.
Reproduction:
Mountain zebra form small herds of one adult stallion and 1 to 5 mares with young. Breeding herds remain stable over many years and mares usually remain in a herd for life. Gestation lasts one year, with one foal born at a time. Foals weigh about 55 pounds at birth, and are up and walking within hours. Foals are weaned at 10 months.
Interesting Facts:
Hartmann’s mountain zebras are commonly found at play. Types of play include chasing, racing, play-fighting, and challenge games. Challenge games usually consist of nose-to-nose contact followed by mutual grooming.
At high temperatures, the striped pattern of the zebra may serve as camouflage, an adaptation to the resultant “waviness” of the air. At a distance of a few hundred yards, the stripes make a zebra appear indistinct.
No two zebras are alike – each has a distinct stripe pattern, just like with human fingerprints.
Range:
South and East Africa
Habitat:
Drier savannahs and plains
Characteristics:
The white rhino is the 3rd largest land animal, after the two species of elephants. The white rhino has two horns on the end of its long head. White rhinos are also referred to as the square-lipped rhino, in reference to its wide, straight, non-hooked upper lip.
Behavior:
The white rhino is the only grazing rhino, and is mild in temperament. This species of rhino is the most social with females often living in groups of 5-7 individuals. Rhinos are very good mothers and will stay with a calf teaching and protecting it for 2-4 years. Adult males are solitary.
Reproduction:
Females become sexually mature at 5 years of age and bear their first calf at 6-8 years. A single birth is the rule, with the baby weighing only about 4 percent of the mother’s weight. Females seek seclusion from other rhinos at the time of birth.
Interesting Facts:
There are five living species of rhinos: white, black, Indian, Javan, and Sumatran. The black and white species live in Africa, while the other three live in Asia. All five species of rhino are critically endangered of going extinct.
Range:
Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan
Habitat:
Mongolian steppes of the Gobi Desert
Characteristics:
Mongolian wild horses exhibit many of the same traits as a domestic horse, but are much smaller and stockier in stature. They also have a heavier coat of hair ideal for the colder climates of Central Asia.
Behavior:
Mongolian wild horse behavior is very similar to that of domestic horse behaviors. Their diet is composed entirely of vegetation. They are hearty and strong and require less food and water. This resilience and zoos helped them recover from near extinction.
Reproduction:
Mating occurs in the early spring and summer. Mongolian wild horses exist in family groups consisting of one male, several females, and their offspring. Once breeding is completed, the males often separate and join bachelor groups. Reproduction is very similar to the domestic horse and gestation is around 1 year.
Interesting Facts:
Mongolian wild horses are also known as the Tahki, Dzungarian, Przewalski’s horse. These endangered species are considered the last truly wild horse. They are much smaller than a domestic horse, but are hearty and strong and require less food and water. This resilience and zoos helped them recover from near extinction.
In the 1960s, Mongolian wild horses were extinct in the wild because of human expansion, habitat destruction, and climate change. Thankfully, Mongolian wild horses were living in zoos at the time. Because of zoo breeding programs, more than 2,000 wild horses have returned to Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan. Mongolian wild horses went from extinct, to critically endangered, to endangered status because of your support of zoos.
Range:
Gobi Desert and steppes of Central and East Asia
Habitat:
Desert prairie and steppes (dry, grassy plains)
Size:
7.5 feed at the humps and weigh around 1,000-2,000 pounds
Characteristics:
Bactrian camels have two humps compared to the Dromedary camel that only has one. They are also much larger than Dromedary camels and have heavy coats that they shed during the summer.
Interesting Facts:
There are fewer than 1,000 wild camels left in the world, making them the eighth most endangered animal in the world.
Special muscles allow them to close their nostrils and lips tightly for long periods. These features protect them from harsh, blowing sand and snow.
Hartmann’s mountain zebra, Bactrian camels, white rhinos, and Mongolian wild horses are all ungulates, or hoofed animals. They all use the tips of their toes to support their body weight while moving. Ungulates include odd-toed ungulates, such as horses, rhinos, and zebras, and even-toed ungulates, such as giraffes and camels.
All four ungulate species housed at the High Desert Oasis face extinction in the wild. Like animals worldwide, they are threatened by human expansion, habitat destruction, and climate change. In addition, rhinos and zebras are poached for body parts, and Mongolian wild horses and wild Bactrian camel’s bloodlines are threatened by hybridization with domesticated horses and camels.
Zoo guests can learn more about these amazing ungulates by booking a Zebra encounter!
Southern white rhinos George and Princess are some of our longest residents at Utah’s Hogle Zoo and are considered geriatric members of their species. In fact, they are nearly the oldest southern white rhinos at any Association of Zoo and Aquariums (AZA) zoo. You may not see the rhinos during your visit because they may be indoors. Resting indoors is an important part of hospice care for these geriatric giants. Thank you for being understanding as we support these two incredibly loved members of our zoo family.
After a comprehensive evaluation, Utah’s Hogle Zoo has moved African elephants Christie and Zuri to the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium, another Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoo, to provide them both the best chance to have a calf in the important social dynamic of a multigenerational herd.