 Reference Base  Facilitation of boma adaptation of an injured subadult ma... |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - Botswana |
| Subject: |
Translocation - Methods |
| Species: |
White Rhino |
 |
|
Botswana - death of subadult from previous shot wound. All animals except the subadult bull were eating and drinking fairly well within one week of being placed into the bomas. The cow started eating by day four post-capture, with the calf suckling within 24 hours of release into the boma. The adult bull was eating by day six post-capture. They were being fed grass freshly cut locally, consisting of a mixture of predominantly Eragrostis, Panicum, and Digitaria species. These were initially supplemented with grasses cut in Chobe National Park. By day ten, the subadult bull had only taken a few bites of grass. Attempts at offering the animal a variety of fresh fruits, teff hay, lucerne hay, as well as grass covered with molasses were unsuccessful. The rhino was, however, seen to drink several times per day.
This young animal appeared to be seeking social interaction by vocalising and rubbing against the fence between himself and the adult bull. The subadult bull's predominant vocalisations were classified (Estes, 1991) as whining (juvenile begging call) and squeaking (juvenile in distress). The only animal that seemed to pay much attention to these sounds was the young female calf, who would sometimes look in the direction of the sound. The subadult bull was the most aggressive animal in the bomas. He often charged the walls of the boma when approached by caretakers. It should be noted that ground surveillance in the area where the young bull was captured revealed that he had been travelling in a group with at least two other animals. A week before the capture operation began, an adult cow and a female calf were found to have been poached in the area. Combining the spoor findings and the estimated age of this animal's bullet wounds, it seems quite likely that the poached animals were the young bull's mother and younger sibling.
Given the history, age, and general behaviour of this subadult bull, it was felt that the problem observed was most likely not the ?classic' confinement-related inappetence of the white rhinoceros (Rogers 1993). In addition, internal injuries that may have resulted from the three bullet wounds could not be adequately assessed. The decision was made not to give the young bull access to a paddock, as it was felt this would only serve to isolate him further from the other animals. In addition, the rearrangements necessary to achieve this might have disrupted the otherwise smooth boma adaptation process in the other three animals. Thus, paddocks were kept closed off.
As it was felt that a lack of social interaction was contributing to the overall stress the young bull was experiencing, the gate between the two bulls' bomas was opened on 27 February - 12 days after the young bull's capture. This was a novel yet potentially dangerous approach to the problem of appetite loss. Normally, wild-caught white rhinos believed to come from different social groups are not penned together, especially if they are the same sex (Booth and Coetsee, 1988) and of disparate sizes. The young bull was approximately seven-tenths the size of the adult bull.
The plan seemed to work initially. No aggression was manifested as the young bull crossed over into the adult bull's boma. During the course of the first day, the young bull's overall attitude improved; he charged the fence much less, and he followed the old bull around constantly. He watched the old bull eating, and then he too started to eat. Progress was rapid. The young bull continued to drink regularly. The young bull would often lie adjacent to the adult bull during rest periods. The two animals were frequently in bodily contact when standing. The adult bull tolerated the young bull relatively well, only occasionally gently horning him in the axillary region. Such antagonistic behaviour was generally confined to times when new feed was placed into the boma, or when both animals tried to drink simultaneously at the water trough, which was too small to accommodate both of them comfortably.
The young rhino continued to eat small amounts during the next day, 28 February. On 1 March he again ate a small amount and defaecated. However, on 2 March the young bull appeared weak and depressed. As the possibility of bullet wound-related sepsis could not be ruled out, that evening the young bull was started on broad spectrum antibiotics. He was given enroflaxacin by intramuscular darts. As the animal had received high doses of intramuscular antibiotics at the time of capture (with his wounds flushed with topically active antibiotics), ongoing antibiotic therapy had not been instituted in the bomas. Systemic antibiotics in a wild anorectic rhinoceros need to be administered with large volume darts, and the disturbance this would cause was not desirable during the early boma training period without clear justification. The fact that the rhino started to eat and then stopped again is what altered our perspective and prompted more specific therapeutic intervention. On the same day, the drinking water was supplemented with dextrose, sucrose, and a commercial B-complex vitamin syrup. On the morning of 3 March, the drinking water was supplemented with appropriate amounts of electrolytes in the form of sodium chloride and potassium chloride. That evening, a second dose of enrofloxacin was given.
On Thursday 4 March, the rhino was still not doing well. He had not, as far as could be determined without night-vision equipment, been eating any significant amounts of feed. The decision was made that day to immobilise him with a very low dose of etorphine hydrochloride in order to implement supportive veterinary measures: 1. stomach-tubing of a calorically dense multi-source carbohydrate/ amino acid/ vegetable oil/ vitamin/ electrolyte mixture; 2. administration of intravenous fluids, as well as the administration of intramuscular antibiotics, B-complex vitamins, vitamin E, and selenium. Due to his debilitated state, the rhino was kept on intranasal oxygen during the procedure with continuous real-time pulse oximetry monitoring. He recovered without complication from this procedure, walking away less than two minutes after the naloxone/ naltrexone/ narcotic antidotes were given. Nevertheless, the rhino died at 5pm the next day. Necropsy revealed that the bullet which had entered the right shoulder had passed through the thoracic and abdominal cavities, leading to diffuse pleuritis and peritonitis, which was confirmed histopathologically. Examination of the bullet recovered from the abdomen revealed that it was of a 7.62mm calibre, with a 39 Russian casing, fired from an AK-47 or an SKS semi- automatic weapon, according to the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks AntiPoaching Unit.
Conclusion
The fact that this animal died from bullet wound-related injuries should not detract from the positive behavioral responses that companionship of the adult bull seems to have elicited. The authors were unable to find any similar cases of such an intentional introduction of two captive white rhino bulls documented in the literature.
|
|
|
File available
details
Original text on this topic: