We have had the most emotional few weeks, especially with the arrival of our new baby rhino Matimba into our care. However, this hasn’t been the only thing that has brought tears to our eyes. We have some very special news to announce that we have been dying to share with everyone!
In August of last year, Lion’s Den and Dingle Dell were poached and their horns were brutally cut off, leaving them with severe open wounds. Since then, we have been treating them at our Centre with the help of our amazing veterinary team.
On 22 March, Dingle Dell’s wound was deemed fully healed, much to our delight! However, Lion’s Den’s wound has proved to be the tricky one. We really struggled to get the rhino cow’s wound closed, and after a year of working on it, it was beginning to be difficult to maintain a positive outlook.
Then suddenly this all changed! Lion’s Den had managed to completely remove her cast, and Dr Rogers was called out in order to treat the wound and replace the cast as usual.
The rhino was darted and sticking to her usual habits, landed with her head in a fence (we have no idea why she always does this!). The team quickly got to work to maneuver her into a position where we would be able to work on her.
Once this was done, we all gathered around to take a look at what the wound looked like. It was an extremely poignant moment for all when we realized that the wound was, in fact, closed. The team quickly began removing the damaged cast, for the last time!
Once the screws were removed and the last of the cast was off, we applied a layer of Stockholm tar to the area. This tar will prevent flies and maggots from bothering the healed wound.
Lion’s Den’s vitals were checked, and blood was drawn. Dr Rogers then dipped the rhino for ticks and fleas. Finally, ‘pink spray’ – another insect repellent, was sprayed over the area.
The rhino was woken up and joined Dingle Dell in the bush. We cannot describe how overjoyed we are that both of our special survivor rhinos are now fully healed!
We owe so much to our amazing team for the work that has been put in to ensure that these two had the best change of a full recovery!