Conservationists help save the eyesight of a rhino in Zimbabwe

A rhino in Zimbabwe can see again thanks to an innovative intercontinental plan to prevent him from losing his eyesight.

Thuza is part of a conservation initiative together with Imvelo Safari Lodges to introduce southern white rhino to land around Hwange National Park, with the local community as the custodians.

But last year, Imvelo’s managing director noticed that the animal’s eyes were bleeding and he was rubbing them constantly.

“I was looking at potential where this guy was going to lose his eyesight, and this is in a pilot project that's got fantastic vision for a future for conservation throughout Africa and rhino,” said Mark Butcher.

He was worried that critics of the project would see this as a reason to say they were not up to looking after the animals and close the project down.

So Imvelo called in the Palm Beach Zoo in Florida in the United States and an animal behaviourist to help treat Thuza’s eye infection.

Angi Lacinak, a founder of Precision Behaviour, travelled to Zimbabwe to work with the anti-poacher scouts.

She said they did not hesitate when the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative called and said Thuza was going to lose his eye.

“With this few animals in this location in Africa, it was essential that we save all of them,” she said. “A blind rhino is a dead rhino. So no matter what it took, we were going to go over there and try."

They developed a plan based on lessons learned at Palm Beach Zoo, where animals are taught to voluntarily participate in their own care.

Together they used Thuza’s favourite foods to coax him into a tight space and then desensitised him to humans by touching him and squirting water on his face.

“They're consistently getting the medications into his eyes every day and the rhinos are just thriving now and they feel really, really confident that this solved their problem," said Lacinak.

Southern white rhinos are classified as near threatened, with poaching a significant danger.

But while Thuza and other rhinos continue to face challenges in the wild, at least his eyes have been protected.