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This week at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, one of the new additions to the rhino family, Wallis, a Southern White Rhino from South Africa, revealed a harsh reality of what is happening to her species throughout Africa. Wallis has been at the Park for just over a year and since her arrival has been exhibiting a wound that just wouldn’t heal. This week keepers noticed something sticking out of her skin at the site of the wound. Vets were called in and removed a bullet casing! Discovery of the bullet suggests a botched poaching attempt. Based on the angle of the wound, vets speculate that the rhino turned toward her shooter before being shot saving her life but leaving her with a stark reminder of the current plight of her species.
Park staff tried to determine the extent of the wound and find the lead from the bullet but traditional equipment wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the rhino’s thick skin. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Bomb Squad was called in and using a device used to conduct investigations of explosive devices, they confirmed the presence of a metal fragment (likely the bullet). The next step will be removing the bullet but, in the meantime, the casing will be sent to a forensic lab to be included in investigations to aid in the fight against poaching in Africa.
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Wallis is a very special addition to the Park’s rhino family. She is as part of the Park's White Rhino breeding program planned to be a surrogate for the critically endangered Northern White Rhino whose only remaining females are all too old to breed.
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