Keeper Weston Popichak and veterinarian Jim Oosterhuis, work with Wallis, a 5-and-a-half-year old southern white rhino, at the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center, located at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
The animal care staff at the Safari Park has been treating Wallis for a non-healing wound since she was moved from a private reserve in South Africa to the Safari Park. Previous examinations revealed the wound to be extensive, leaving animal care staff to speculate that the wound was originally caused by a penetrating foreign body, possibly a bullet.
During an exam on Saturday, Dec. 17, a keeper noticed a tiny, hard, black object in the wound. Veterinarian Jim Oosterhuis used a tool to grasp the object and pulled out a bullet fragment. Since removing the object, the wound is healing rapidly.
Wallis is one of six female rhinos relocated to the Safari Park from private reserves in South Africa, as part of a collaborative conservation effort to save the critically endangered northern white rhino—and all rhino species—from extinction.
Rhinos are poached for their horn, which is made of keratin—the same material that forms human fingernails. Rhino horn has been erroneously thought to have medicinal value and is used in traditional remedies in some Asian cultures. In addition, objects made of rhino horn have more recently become a “status symbol,” purchased to display someone’s success and wealth, because the rhino is now so rare and endangered.