State Rep. Dane Diehl, a Butler Republican, speaks during an April debate (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).
State Rep. Dane Diehl says he wants rhinos to be in zoos, not the legislature.
The second-term Republican from Butler prefiled a bill designating the rhinoceros as the official state zoo animal. The state is home to two zoos, in Kansas City and St. Louis, that both feature endangered Eastern black rhinos among their exhibits.
But he said he also knows the bill plays into the ongoing debate in the GOP about what makes someone a party purist and whether anyone lukewarm on parts of the platform can honestly call themselves a Republican.
Critics call them RINOs, for Republican in Name Only.
“I’m sure I’ll get a little flack on it,” Diehl said in an interview with The Independent.
The General Assembly opens Wednesday and the first thing on the agenda for the House will be the election of a speaker. State Rep. Justin Sparks of Wildwood, a founding member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, is challenging state Rep. Jonathan Patterson of Lee’s Summit, the nominee of the Republican caucus, for the chamber’s top job.
Sparks has accused Patterson of being a RINO.
The bill is not a commentary on the speaker’s contest, Diehl said.
“Jon Patterson has done his diligence and proven to me that he’s the leader and he’s going to take the House in the right direction the next two years,” he said.
If passed, the rhinoceros would join the existing list of 41 official state symbols. There are five other state emblem bills also prefiled in the House for this year’s session.
The legislature began designating official emblems and symbols in 1957, recognizing the state flag and seal already in use and making the Eastern Bluebird the official bird, the Hawthorn the official flower, the flowering dogwood the official tree and the Missouri Waltz the official song.
New state symbols are proposed by a variety of advocates, but many, like the designation of Big Bluestem as the official state grass in 2007, are initially proposed by schoolchildren learning about state government.
The most recent additions to the list of state symbols and emblems, added in 2023, are the Hawken rifle as the state rifle and Piedmont and Wayne County, as the “UFO Capitals of Missouri.”
The Hawken rifle was a powerful, long-range gun developed in St. Louis during the early 19th century that became a favorite of fur trappers and traders operating on the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Piedmont received national attention in 1973 for a series of unexplained aircraft sightings.
The idea is his own, Diehl said. He wasn’t approached by a school group, he said, and he hasn’t contacted zoo officials to determine if they agree on the chosen animal.
“Missouri is one of the few states that has two zoos that also have rhinoceros habitat, and with the loss and it being an endangered species, I just felt like there was a real need to bring information and promote that animal,” Diehl said.
The bill has received some notice from colleagues, he said, and suggestions for substitute animals. Some have suggested the animal mascots of state universities, he added.
“Somebody said we need to make it the kangaroo or Missouri Tiger,” Diehl said. “Just, you know, to make sure that they’re not forgotten.”