The Black Rhino

  1989

You are looking at 50 million years of survival. Now, they are almost gone, because of the very thing nature gave them to protect themselves. Once the horn is removed, the Rhinos are not able to survive. Hunters use anything they can to remove the horn, while the Rhino is still alive. They even use chainsaws, so they take the horn more quickly, and then sell on the back market. And what for? The keratin, the daggers symbolizing masculinity. All kinds of ridiculous things like that.

They managed to put and entire species under extinction on nature and wild for money.

2011

I wish i could say things are different, but no. They are not.

Today, if you wish to see a Black Rhino, you can find them at reserves for animal rehabilitation or at ZOO's.

So many things have been done and yet, we were not able to save them. They are at the edge.

I don't think i really need to say anything else.

Just... We should be able to see them here, like this:

Born Free: BELLA GETS CHECKED OUT

BORN FREE

KEEP WILDLIFE IN THE WILD

It was time for Bella’s annual check up this week and everything went very smoothly.  After resident vet Dr Richard Ssuna had put her under anaesthetic, several volunteers had to be drafted in to carry her across the enclosure – all 180kg of her! 

As many of you will know, Bella had to have one eye removed in Romania, as the result of an untreated eye condition called glaucoma which had left the affected eye very bulbous, and being blind in that eye, the eye was at great risk of being damaged.  Bella also had a cataract in the other eye as a result of malnutrition during her time in the Romanian zoo.   An eye surgeon from Nkhoma Hospital was brought in especially to check the condition of her remaining eye, and he said that laser surgery might be helpful at some point to remove some scarring.  However, he is happy with her condition for now. 

Her joints were found to be a little stiff due to her arthritis - she has poor conformation, again probably as a result of malnutrition in captivity or in-breeding, and so she will go on a special joint supplement to help her loosen up.  

Blood tests were taken and she was also de-wormed and received vaccinations for rabies and tetanus and was given a little ‘pedicure’ to keep her claws in good nick.

Overall Richard was happy with her health, although she does appear to be enjoying her steak a little too much and needs to go on a diet! 

For more information on Bella:

BELLA'S SURGERY
BELLA'S RECOVERY

Born Free: BELLA'S RECOVERY

Bella’s eye is still showing no complications after the cataract removal on 9th December.  It is interesting seeing the extent of her vision when she moves off the smooth concrete and goes out onto the grassy slope at the back of her enclosure.  Sometimes she walks very slowly and carefully picking her way through the long grass and bushes.  At other times, when something attracts her attention at the top of the slope, she will bound towards it confidently.   

Born Free’s senior veterinary consultant, John Knight, says that when Bella is tentative in her movements, this will probably be because she cannot focus at short distances and so placing her front feet is more difficult (she does not know what she is placing them on) and also she cannot anticipate the proximity of undergrowth before it hits her face. At medium and longer distances her sight is much better, and also she will be more sensitive, and so more responsive, to movement.

If we had inserted a replacement lens into Bella’s eye after the cataract removal, then she would have near-sighted vision as well.  However, unlike a pet dog or cat that can be handled, the long-term, follow-up care needed would have been almost impossible to carry out effectively, and would have been very stressful for Bella, so the decision was taken not to replace her lens.  We are delighted that she now appears to have good medium and long-sighted vision at least.  Before the operation everything would have been a blur.

Bella is relaxed and confident in her new home which is lovely to see, and continues to enjoy having regular meals and a varied diet - a far cry from the slimy, grey necks and wings from factory-farmed chickens she was fed on before.

We are still working on the lengthy process of securing all the necessary permits, and arranging the flights and overland travel to the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, but we hope it won’t be much longer before Bella can exchange the Romanian winter weather for the sunshine in Malawi.

We have been sent some lovely photos of Bella in the snow at her temporary home in Brasov Zoo.  They have been sent  by Dr Ion Brumar, the vet who cares for her.  Apparently she hasn’t been too keen to go out in the snow, preferring to remain in her heated indoor quarters, but it was a beautiful sunny day when the photos were taken and obviously Bella felt like stretching her legs.  It seems very clear, from one of the photos, that she is stalking the photographer using her eyesight, not her hearing or sense of smell.  Ion is convinced her vision is very much improved.

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