Kariega Game Reserve’s poaching attack survivor, Thandi, recently underwent ground-breaking skin-graft surgeries on her re-opened wounds.
Kariega Game Reserve’s poaching attack survivor, Thandi, recently underwent ground-breaking skin-graft surgeries on her re-opened wounds.
It’s suspected that the recent damage suffered by the rhino was inflicted by some social interaction between Thandi and a newly introduced bull on the reserve.
Grocott’s Mail observed Thandi’s second procedure last Monday, when a plastic surgeon, who usually works with humans, was even part of the medical team.
The first procedure took place on 24 June when three different types of skin graft techniques were carried out on her horn area.
Four esteemed doctors including wildlife veterinarian Dr William Fowlds of Investec Rhino Lifeline; two specialist veterinary surgeons Dr Gerhard Steenkamp and Dr Johan Marais; and plastic surgeon Dr Alistair Lamont were up to the challenge.
During the second procedure last week, the medical team evaluated the healing process. Marais attempted the fourth and final procedure, a pinch graft, historically done on humans and horses.
The first procedure hadn’t been as successful as they’d hoped, but Lamont saw potential and carried out another split skin graft procedure. “I have never worked on a wild animal before.
“But a rhino is a mammal, like us, so the anatomy is the same,” explained Lamont.
He subsidised his involvement after his eldest son, a former Kwandwe employee, asked him if there was anything a plastic surgeon could do.
In the past 14 months Steenkamp, Marais and Lamont have collaborated on new techniques to repair the faces of rhinos savaged by poachers for their horns.
“We will keep working at it. It is all experimentation made by calculated risks. It’s the only way we can move forward for the survival of poached rhinos,” said Lamont.
This procedure has never been done on a rhino before. Its potential success paves the way for future viable treatments on poached rhino using grafting techniques.
Fowlds explained that through pioneering this treatment they hope Thandi will regrow a “thicker skin to endure the rigorous life of the rhino.
“The goal is for horny tissue to grow back over the front horn,” he said. Fowlds has been Thandi’s veterinarian since the day they found her de-horned by poachers in March 2012.
A love that survives
Themba, Thandi and Bull #84 were attacked by poachers at the Kariega Game Reserve in March 2012.
Thandi was the only rhino to survive the incident and has made a miraculous recovery.
“She inspires,” says Fowlds, “she’s special because three rhinos were poached at once, which is uncommon and dramatic, and she survived against all the odds.”
He says Thandi, whose name means 'love', is a constant reminder “of our love and dedication to these animals and the environment they represent.
“And this care, as her name implies, reverberates out across the world as she inspires people to action against the poaching crisis.”
