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Orphan rhino regains vision.
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abc
Feb 21, 2012, 3:25:44 PM2/21/12
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Orphan rhino regains vision.
FEBRUARY 21, 2012
Workers at the Wildcare Africa Trust wildlife rehabilitation centre
outside Pretoria, South Africa, bottle-feed some of the baby rhinoceroses
at the centre in 2003.
An orphaned South African rhinoceros blinded by poachers who hit it on
the head in the same attack that killed its mother has regained its
vision after cataract surgery, its owners said Monday.
Roccy the rhino underwent the surgery on January 3 in the University of
Pretoria's veterinary hospital and has now returned to his native
Elandela game reserve in the country's northeast.
"His character has changed. He's now less dependent on humans," owner
Rocco Gioia told AFP.
"He's now more and more acting like a rhino."
After the attack by poachers in June, the reserve's owners created a
foundation to save Roccy, then three months old.
They also acquired Clova, a young female rhino that was also orphaned by
poachers. Roccy has been spending much of his time with her since
regaining his sight, Gioia said.
South Africa is home to some 20,000 rhinos, between 70 and 80 percent of
the world population. At least 448 of the animals were killed by poachers
last year, breaking the previous record of 333 the year before and up
from just 13 in 2007.
Experts say the poaching explosion has been driven by demand for the
animals' horns in Asia, particularly Vietnam, where the substance is
wrongly believed to cure cancer.
FEBRUARY 21, 2012
Workers at the Wildcare Africa Trust wildlife rehabilitation centre
outside Pretoria, South Africa, bottle-feed some of the baby rhinoceroses
at the centre in 2003.
An orphaned South African rhinoceros blinded by poachers who hit it on
the head in the same attack that killed its mother has regained its
vision after cataract surgery, its owners said Monday.
Roccy the rhino underwent the surgery on January 3 in the University of
Pretoria's veterinary hospital and has now returned to his native
Elandela game reserve in the country's northeast.
"His character has changed. He's now less dependent on humans," owner
Rocco Gioia told AFP.
"He's now more and more acting like a rhino."
After the attack by poachers in June, the reserve's owners created a
foundation to save Roccy, then three months old.
They also acquired Clova, a young female rhino that was also orphaned by
poachers. Roccy has been spending much of his time with her since
regaining his sight, Gioia said.
South Africa is home to some 20,000 rhinos, between 70 and 80 percent of
the world population. At least 448 of the animals were killed by poachers
last year, breaking the previous record of 333 the year before and up
from just 13 in 2007.
Experts say the poaching explosion has been driven by demand for the
animals' horns in Asia, particularly Vietnam, where the substance is
wrongly believed to cure cancer.
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