AN AFRICAN antelope rejected by his mother is receiving four times the love in human form at Werribee Open Range Zoo staff.
The four-week-old eland named Tauro is being hand-reared by four vets and keepers who have become surrogate mothers.
Veterinarian Katrina Gregory said taking over a mother’s role was a last resort for the zoo. “This calf is vital to the Australasian eland breeding program,” she said.
At just 45 kilograms with three-centimetre long horns, the playful calf has a lot of growing to do before he becomes a breeding male weighing up to 900 kilograms with twisted metre-long horns.
He might join Werribee’s 15 other elands or be moved to another Australian zoo, Dr Gregory said.
Tauro was rejected by his mum after a complicated birth. He is now fed up to two litres of milk three times a day by zoo staff.
Eland live on the African savanna in herds of up to 80 animals.
In the wild, they are hunted for their hide and flesh, so their numbers have declined significantly in the past decade, Dr Gregory said.
