In January, a subadult white rhino cow was spotted in Ophathe Game Reserve with a suspected gunshot wound on her right shoulder. The wound was large and needed treatment in order to check if the bullet had done any internal damage. The Ezemvelo KZN Game Capture team contacted Wild Wonderful World to help with funding helicopter flying time. We immediately committed the funding but due to the excessive heat, the operation had to be delayed until temperatures were low enough to have a safe operation.

A few days later, the team headed out to relocate and treat the rhino. The rhino was darted from the helicopter, her wound checked. A gunshot wound was confirmed upon examination and was treated accordingly. The vets found that the bullet was embedded to deeply to remove. However, the entry wound was wide and open, leading to the decision to clean the wound and leave the bullet in. We beleive it will either be pushed out on its own or remain encased in the skin as the rhino did not seem to be hindered in her movements. She was very fortunate in that the wound was superficial and did not cause any serious damage to underlying bone or muscles.  She is expected to make a full recovery.

While flying in the area, another rhino cow with a young calf was spotted. She had not had her horn trimmed the previous year as her calf would have been to small at the time. Given that there was a vet and helicopter team in the area already, the team used the opportunity to trim her horn now. The team decided to dehorn the cow to discourage poaching. The calf was notched with a unique ID and DNA samples were taken from both mom and calf for research and DNA analysis.  

From Dumi, head of the Ezemvelo KZN Game Capture Team: "This operation would not have been possible without your support and the generous donation of the helicopter hours.  Helicopters are an essential tool in much of the rhino conservation work that we do and the cost of running them is often out of reach of our budget.  As such we are immensely grateful for organisations such as yourself who are willing to help us in these emergency situations."

‍

This intervention was made possible of a donation we received from Eve and Earl - thank you for your trust and for saving these 3 rhino!

‍

Written by Evelyn Poole