Our Old Rhino, Part 2

On Thursday, July 5^th, we planned to visit the rhino again. The game warden reported that the rhino had been eating, so we were optimistic that his condition had improved. Before we were to treat the rhino, the game warden had to locate him. He and his team began searching for the rhino at 6:00 a.m. We arrived at the clinic at 8:00 a.m., as usual, hopeful that the rhino had been located. At 9:30 a.m., we received a call that the rhino had been spotted, so we planned to leave at 10. We received a call shortly later that they had lost the rhino! Apparently, this rhino was traveling very large distances. We hoped this was an indication of an improvement in health, because before our first treatment, the rhino had been relatively stagnant.

They did not find the rhino again until 2:30 p.m. When we arrived, Dr. Rogers did not like what he saw. The rhino appeared even thinner than he was before. We were confused; hadn’t the warden reported that the rhino had been eating? It turned out that the warden had been locating the rhino, leaving food for him, and observing him eat for only a few moments before driving away. If the food was gone later that night, then it was assumed that the rhino had been eating. However, there were many other rhinos and grass-eaters in the area—any of them could have finished the food.

With heavy hearts, we weighed the potential negative effects of putting the animal under anesthesia again. The anesthesia could have fatal effects if the rhino was weaker than before. However, without treatment, the rhino would surely die. Veterinarians of every field face this dilemma on a daily basis—whether the risks of treatment outweigh the potential benefits. In this case, Dr. Rogers decided to dart the rhino again, with even a lower dose of M99. As I described in my previous post, a healthy bull of this size would need 4mg of M99. Last time we treated this rhino, we used 1.5mg. This time, we reduced that amount to 1mg.

The best area to dart an animal is in the hindquarter muscles. This area allows for the most efficient absorption of the drug. Other muscular areas, such as the shoulder, are not as efficient, causing the animal to go down slower or not go down at all. The amount of time it takes for an animal to go down, (typically 6-8 minutes), depends on the size of the animal, the absorption rate of the drug, the dose of the drug, and the area in which the drugs are injected.

One hopes that the dart will inject the drugs intramuscularly (into the muscle). However, sometimes this does not happen. If the dart injects subcutaneously (under the skin), then the drug is injected into the area between the skin and the muscular body wall. This causes the drug to be absorbed slowly. If the dart injects intravenously (into a vein), then the drug is instantly flowing through the animal’s system, and the animal reacts very quickly to the drug. If the dart injects intraosseously (into the bone) then this also causes rapid absorption of the drug. According to Dr. Rogers, it is quite frightening when a dart results in an intraosseous or intravenous injection because the animal drops almost instantly. Other reasons why an animal may drop instantly are an overdose, an allergic reaction that resulted in shock, or a pre-existing heart, liver, or kidney condition that made it sensitive to the anesthetic.

Darting an animal is a very tricky thing. If the animal is moving, Dr. Rogers must anticipate the location of the animal’s hindquarters by the time the dart hits the animal. If Dr. Rogers is in a helicopter, this complicates the issue even further—he must account for the anticipated movement of the helicopter and the movement of the animal, waiting until the animal is in the right orientation to hit the hindquarters.

In our case, the rhino was facing towards us and was not moving, even though we waited for several minutes to see if the rhino would change orientation so Dr. Rogers could hit the hindquarters. He had to settle for hitting the shoulder. This caused a much slower absorption of the small dose of 1mg of M99. Dr. Rogers and Janelle approached the rhino while it was still awake to put the blanket over its head. Even once it had fallen down and we pushed the rhino to sit upright, he still was very reactive. When Cassie put the lubricant in his eyes, he became agitated. Every few minutes, he would try to rear his head. We had someone holding the rhino’s horn so that if he did rear, he would not do any damage. It was certainly exhilarating to treat a rhino that was so very awake!

We administered the same injections and treatments that we had previously, except we only used one 2-liter bag of fluids instead of two. We injected antibiotics, painkillers, and vitamins, and we flushed out the wound with Hydrogen Peroxide and Chlorhexidine. More bone and dead muscle came out of the hole. We hoped our ministrations were enough to keep this rhino alive.

Today, (Monday, July 9^th), I can report the rhino is still alive. It has been one week since we began treatment. The game warden reports that he is eating and looks better than he did before. He is traveling large distances and marking his territory. These are very good signs. It looks like our old rhino may be turning the corner. Even though Dr. Rogers says the prognosis is still dim, I cannot help but be hopeful. If this rhino survives despite the poachers’ attack, it means that poachers will not always win. We can fight back. During this desperate time where a rhino is shot every day, we must believe that we have the power to save this majestic animal, even if it is one rhino at a time.