Rhino De-Horned and Tracker fitted
Our Saving The Survivor vets were recently called to help de-horn and collar this female Southern White Rhino. This involves using a helicopter to track and dart the Rhino. However, complications can arise as it is not always easy to get the animal to go down in the best place for them to lie down.
Luckily, with some help we got her down safely in between all the trees and thorn thickets. This allowed us to work on her quickly and efficiently.
The Southern White Rhino is de-horned and fitted with a tracking collar. This helps to minimise the risk of poaching, as the rangers can keep track of where this beautiful female roams. De-horning is not something we do lightly, however, it is a necessary step to deter poachers and save the species. When the Rhino is de-horned, the process does not hurt them, as their horns consist of keratin, the same as your fingernails. This means cutting their horn feels much like cutting your fingernails.
This is all part of the support we offer to the custodians of Africa’s remaining Rhinos, and this is all possible due to your donations.
How can I support Saving The Survivors work?
Please donate if you can to ensure that we are always there to answer that call and doing all we can to protect the remaining Rhinos. You can support our work by becoming a monthly or one off donor. Please help us to do more great work like this, and save the Rhino from extinction. Donate here.
You can also support us by following us on social media. Share our stories to give these vulnerable animals a voice. With your help we can raise awareness of the issues these animals face and make a change, creating a more positive future for them. Check out our other supporters views on facebook. Check out our instagram here.
Thank you from all of team Saving The Survivors for your support!
MORE BUSH JOURNAL
The impact of poaching on Private Wildlife Custodians
Saving The Survivors are committed to supporting Private Wildlife Custodians. The situation in Private Wildlife Custodians Due to countless decades of poaching of Rhino in National Parks, over half the world’s Rhino are now under the protection of private custodians who are struggling to meet the cost of protecting this endangered and heavily targeted species. … Continued
2 month progress report on baby Giraffe
Remember the young Giraffe that was suffering with ruptured ligaments? The calf has had a cast on her leg for a total of 2 months now and Dr. Johan returned this week to remove it for good. The baby has healed amazingly and as you can see in the video has now returned to live … Continued
Supporting the hero rangers who protect our wildlife
As the year comes to end, it is time to give thanks. At our STS South Africa base, the team decided to thank those who truly deserve it. The team put together some bush orientated first aid kits for several of the rangers protecting our wildlife and putting their lives on the line. STS would … Continued
Update on injured baby Giraffe
Happy Holidays! Today is Boxing Day, in some cultures this is a day for giving. For donating to those less fortunate or in need. Please could you help save the survivors and create hope from hurt? We recently reported on a baby Giraffe that was suffering with ruptured ligaments, Dr. Johan treated this animal a … Continued
The art of immobilisation
How do STS immobilise wild animals? Immobilising large wildlife such as Rhino is an essential procedure in our toolkit to keep these species safe. Whether we need to treat an injured animal or a more proactive anti-poaching procedure like collaring, the decision to immobilise such a large patient is never taken lightly. When we humans … Continued
Dr. Johan operates on two Big Cats!
Reintroduced Lion populations pose several ecological and management challenges in smaller, fenced wildlife reserves. Changes in the natural social and ecological conditions of reintroduced Lions may lead to rapid reproduction and a breakdown of natural predator-prey relationships. To avoid culling of animals, STS was recently requested to perform one-sided hysterectomies on two female Lions that … Continued
Update on our little boy Kwayera
Update on Kwayera: Remember the baby orphan we rescued when he was found wandering the bush alone? For the first few days he was cared for 24/7 by our Veterinary Assistant and Baby Rhino Specialist “Dot”. This most certainly saved his life, before we could arrange for Dr. Johan to fly him to The Rhino Orphanage where … Continued
Injured three week old Giraffe needs our help!
We were contacted by Dr. Ryan to assist with this 3 week old Giraffe that is knuckling over on his right front fetlock joint. This is a condition we see in young foals as well, when either the extensor tendon ruptures, or some of the collateral ligaments of the joint get injured. Dr. Ryan expertly … Continued
Dr. Johan translocates 2 awesome Lions!
A coalition of two magnificent male Lions were recently relocated to another reserve. The reason for this move was twofold: Firstly, many reserves have an overpopulation of Lion and the relocation assists other reserves to bring in different genetics to its own Lion population. In a perfect world there would be no fences and Lions … Continued
“Ear piercing” a Rhino!
Notching is becoming a huge part in Rhino conservation. As a result, nearly all Rhinos in South Africa are “notched”. Notching is a way of identifying each individual animal. Veterinarians do this by removing a small triangle or circle of skin from the Rhino’s ear. The veterinarians do not waste this skin, they use … Continued
Saving The Survivors treat yet another poaching victim
This week Saving The Survivors got the call of yet another poaching incident. Luckily, the Southern White Rhino Bull managed to escape with his life, although he did sustain some nasty injuries. The adult Southern White Rhino Bull was shot and initially he was slightly lame on his right frontlimb. As the days progressed, the … Continued
Update on our Black Rhino orphan
UPDATE : On the Black Rhino orphan calf who’s mother died unexpectedly in a reserve and he was left to fend for himself. After relocating him to the Rhino orphanage the little Rhino began to take a turn in his health and became weak and wouldn’t eat. Everyone on site was extremely worried about … Continued
