The plan was based on lessons learned at the Palm Beach Zoo, where animals are trained to voluntarily participate in their own care.

Corralling a wild rhinoceros into a small chute to give it eyedrops might sound absurd. But sometimes the absurd approach is the one that works.

Animal behaviourists partnering with the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society in Florida travelled to Africa in August to help an endangered white rhino suffering from a life-threatening parasitic eye infection.

Daniel Terblanche, security manager with Imvelo Safari Lodges, said no one in Zimbabwe would have considered such a plan.
“Believe me, we didn’t think of it; it was a completely ridiculous idea to us,” Terblanche said. “But without trying all of the things that we could to rectify that situation, we would have been in trouble, I think.”

‘A Blind Rhino Is A Dead Rhino’

Outside Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, the Community Rhino Conservation Initiative works with Imvelo Safari Lodges to reintroduce southern white rhinos to communal lands for the first time in the nation’s history.

Palm Beach Zoo CEO and President Margo McKnight was visiting last year when Imvelo managing director Mark Butcher explained that a male rhino named Thuza had a severe health issue.
“This rhino had bleeding eyes. He was rubbing his eyes,” Butcher said. “I was looking at a potential where this guy was gonna lose his eyesight. And this is in a pilot project with a fantastic vision for conservation throughout Africa.”

Thad and Angi Lacinak, founders of Precision Behavior, travelled to Zimbabwe to help the anti-poaching scouts. They adapted a strategy used at Palm Beach Zoo, where animals are trained to voluntarily accept medical care.

“With this few animals in this location in Africa, it was essential that we save all of them,” Angi Lacinak said. “When they called and said Thuza is going to lose his eye, a blind rhino is a dead rhino. No matter what it took, we were going to go over there and try.”

Teaching A Rhino To Accept Eyedrops

The idea: lure Thuza into a narrow space with his favourite foods, then slowly desensitise him to human touch and having water sprayed on his face.

“Within about a week, we were actually putting the eyedrops strategically in his eyes while he held for it,” Lacinak said. “And by the end of two weeks, we had transferred that skill set not only to Daniel, who led the guards, but to the guards themselves.”

Southern white rhinos are classified as near threatened, with about 16,000 remaining in the wild. Poaching and habitat loss continue to pose serious risks. But at least for Thuza, one danger has been eased.

“They’re consistently getting the medications into his eyes every day,” Lacinak said. “And the rhinos are thriving now. They feel really confident that this solved their problem.”