South Australian Zookeepers Use Edible Glitter to Track Rhino Reproduction

South Australian zookeepers are looking for sparkles in the unlikeliest of places — "big nuggets" of rhinoceros poo.

For the first time at Monarto Safari Park, edible glitter is being used to track the reproductive cycles of their two youngest southern white rhinos, seven-year-old Carrie and 15-year-old Savannah.

Ungulate supervisor Haidee Kinter said the duo were housed together in a large, open-range precinct and were given different coloured glitter to distinguish their droppings.

The team at Monarto Safari Park trialled a range of colours before settling on blue and gold glitter.

Ms Kinter said the colours made collecting samples from their communal dung piles — known as "middens" — easier.

She said keepers drove around to check all the different middens for the disco poo.

"Blue and gold have been the most successful at the moment."

Ms Kinter said the animals were fed the glitter with handfuls of lucerne hay.

"It's a real big treat to them and they absolutely love it," the zookeeper said.

"They are very aware that it's there. They have an incredible sense of smell, so you can't hide anything from them."

Detecting pregnancy using poo

Glitter has been used as faecal marking to help zookeepers track a range of health concerns in animals, including in lions at Victoria's Werribee Open Range Zoo and polar bears at Canada's Assiniboine Park Zoo.

Ms Kinter said the young rhinos' reproductive cycles fluctuated, and faecal tests could catch pregnancies earlier than blood tests.

"Quite often with blood sampling, which we use as well, [their] hormones won't change to a detectable level enough for at least the first six months of a pregnancy," she said.

"It means that we can introduce males at the right time."

She said the zoo has been partnering with fertility specialists Repromed to test the samples.

Successful calving

Ms Kinter said keepers had worked closely with Monarto's veterinary team before introducing glitter to Carrie and Savannah about six to 12 months ago.

The method was successfully used in 30-year-old Uhura 10 years earlier, and 35-year-old Umqali.

Seven calves have been born between the pair since 2005.

The rhino species, found in southern Africa, had been classed as vulnerable, largely due to illegal poaching and being sold at high prices on the black market for alleged medicinal purposes.

Conservation organisation World Wildlife Fund estimated about 18,000 southern white rhinos existed in protected areas and private game reserves.

Ms Kinter said the six white rhinos at Monarto were important for long-term survival of the species.

"At one point they were close to losing 1,000 a year through poaching," she said.

"They're basically an insurance population that we have here in Australia."

While faecal marking had been used at Monarto's African Painted Dogs previously, Ms Kinter said there were no plans to use glitter in other animals at this time.

"I think it's just a really brilliant example of the team being a bit creative when you've got a bit of a pickle," she said.