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Sabari the Rhino is heading east to make room for pandas at Calgary Zoo

It’s adios Sabari!! The two-tonne big guy is only 12 years old and he’s already on the move.

Officials with the Calgary Zoo say his stay was only ever meant to be temporary.

He’s been in Calgary for only two years after the elephants moved out. They’ll now tear down his enclosure to build a new exhibit for the pandas in 2018.

Great-horned rhinos are a rare thing, even more so in Canada and after he leaves the closest will be in Vancouver.

His keepers will begin crate-training him soon in hopes of getting him comfortable with the idea, so that when the big move comes, he’ll walk in on his own accord.

He’s also just recovering from tooth surgery so they don’t want to take any chances with him.

“He’s at a young adult stage at his life right now,” said Matt Korhonen, Curator of Eurasia. “He’s a huge personality, he’s obviously a gigantic animal and he’s definitely been a big draw at the Calgary Zoo. We’ve been privileged to take care of him.”

Korhonen says he’s slated to leave late September and that is part of the larger plan.

“He will be missed dearly by our staff and by our community, he’s a giant draw and even just for conservation, Sabari’s part of a species survival plan and if we ever ended where we could release them into the wild… having a group of genetically diverse rhinos is invaluable.”

The hope is that he’ll end up with a mate and some off-spring.

He had lots of fans sad to hear the big guy is leaving.

“He’s nice,” said 9 year old Leah. “A few times I’ve been to the zoo.”

She and her brother Ben say it was good to hear he’s moving and finding a home with a possible wife.

“It’s kinda sad but I think that he’ll have a good home when he goes to Ontario, but it’s sad to see him go. He’s so cute and he’s such a big animal but he’s so sweet and cute,” said Joanne.

Anyone looking to say hello to the “big guy” before he leaves, there is still time. Sabari will be on display until mid-September.

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