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 limb became very uncomfortable for the poor bull. So the reserve management called us in to asses his injury.
The bull was immobilised and several bone fragments were removed from the bullet entry wound. Radiographs were taken of the elbow, forearm and carpal (wrist) area to establish if there were any fractures.
Using our x-ray system, a lower, complete ulna fracture was sadly evident on several of the x-rays. Fortunately the fracture is non-displaced, which means the fracture ends are not overriding.
It is quite challenging to get good x-rays from the upper limb of a rhino, but with the help of the reserve staff and Dr. Shaun, we managed to get fairly good quality pictures.
Going forward, Dr’s Shaun and Johan decided to keep the bull in a small area to prevent too much movement and put him on painkillers for the next 3 to 4 weeks. We have had success previously with these kind of fractures, however every case is different. We will keep you informed of his progress.
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