A post mortem on Hope the rhino indicated severe inflammation of the intestines and samples have been sent away to confirm the cause of death.
But so far it seems she died from a bacterial infection, said Johan Marais from Saving the Survivors.
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“The symptoms are very similar to what happened to 28 other rhinos a while ago. These rhinos seemed happy and well, but the next moment, they were dead. The same happened with Hope. We checked on her on Sunday morning and she seemed as happy and healthy as she could be under the circumstances, but then a few hours later she was found dead,” said Marais.
He said the infections could have developed due to a combination of causes, such as the changing of the seasons and the stress associated with captivity.
“Hope had survived against so many odds, her wounds were about 70% healed,” said Marais.
“I always dreamt of letting her free again in a safe place and perhaps she would have a calf. If she died there because she was struck by lightening or a bull killed her, it would have been fine. It would have been more natural.”
However, he added that the skin transplants and treatments performed on Hope were the first of its kind at the time.
“We have recently started the same procedures on a rhino bull, and he is doing much better than Hope did even though he was worse to start with. This is all thanks to the lessons we learnt while treating Hope,” said Marias.
