Rhino poaching survivor treated by STS veterinarian Dr. Johan
Another Southern White Rhino Bull shot and his front horn traumatically hacked away by poachers. Luckily, this Rhino survived the poaching ordeal, despite losing his horn and with it half of his face.
This Rhino Bull has been making a fairly good recovery, however it seems that the Oxpecker birds are now irritating the wound and keeping it open, preventing the area from healing fully.
How will Dr Johan save the Rhino poaching survivor?
Dr. Johan, together with Dr. H (the local vet which has been treating this poor Rhino) immobilised the Bull and treated the facial wound with the technique that was developed several years ago by STS. This technique uses fibreglass material and orthopaedic screws with wound dressings below.
This will need to stay on 3 to 4 weeks, after which we will remove the covering and assess how the wound has reacted to the treatment. In the meantime the Oxpeckers cannot gain access to the wound, which should give the area ample time to heal sufficiently.
There are no conventional methods for treating wild animals such as Rhino. Therefore, innovative methods need to be developed in order to save and rehabilitate these animals. Dr Johan has developed many of the methods used to treat wildlife himself, through his background as an equestrian veterinarian. These methods which save Rhino poaching victims can be seen throughout our social media and website.
How can I help poaching survivors?
Please continue to support our work so that we are always ready to answer that call when wildlife needs us. It is your generous donations that make all this possible! Without your help there wouldn’t be any Rhino poaching survivors.
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