World’s First: Surgeons Successfully Repair Baby Rhino’s Broken Leg

In a nature park, the keepers made a surprising discovery concerning one of their largest residents: Amara, a young white rhinoceros. What seemed to be a simple limp quickly turned out to be a complex fracture, a rare situation in the veterinary world. Faced with this unprecedented challenge, a team of specialists was brought together. Their goal: to attempt an operation never before performed. This gesture marks a turning point for the care dedicated to large mammals, opening new perspectives in this field.

Unprecedented fracture detected in Amara

Amara, born in October 2022, is a young white rhino living at Knowsley Safari Park in the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, keepers noticed an unusual limp in her right front leg.

After several treatments including rest and pain medication, no improvement was observed. X-rays then revealed a complex fracture of the ulna. An extremely rare type of injury, never before documented in rhinos.

Unprecedented in veterinary literature, the park team called on equine surgery specialists from the University of Liverpool. The morphology of horses, similar to that of rhinoceroses, makes them a common reference for this type of intervention.

“Treating such a fracture in a rhino was a challenge we had never encountered before,” said Dr David Stack, senior surgeon and lecturer in equine surgery at the University of Liverpool, quoted in IFLScience.

A revolutionary intervention

The operation took place directly in Amara's enclosure to limit her stress. More than ten specialists, including veterinary surgeons, anesthetists and park keepers, were mobilized for this five-hour intervention.

The technique chosen, arthroscopy, allowed a camera to be inserted into the joint to observe the fracture precisely. However, the team had to deal with several uncertainties. “We didn’t know if we would have enough room to maneuver, or how well we would be able to see the affected area,” Dr. Stack explained.

Vets concentrate during Amara's operation, a world first in treating rhino fractures. Credit: Knowsley Safari

Amara was then placed under general anesthesia, and veterinarians performed a delicate operation, using treatment techniques usually reserved for horses. After the procedure, a full-body cast was placed on her leg to immobilize the bone and allow for better healing.

“We were concerned about how she would accept the cast and whether she would be able to move properly with that restriction,” Dr Stack added, according to the BBC.

Careful rehabilitation for a return to normal

After the operation, Amara remained under close observation in her enclosure, alongside her mother Meru. To avoid the risk of infection or complications, the keepers created a comfortable space with rubber mats and straw.

In addition, an innovative therapy was used to speed up Amara's recovery. Veterinarians injected her paw with a platelet-rich solution, derived from her own blood. But despite these efforts, there was still uncertainty about the success of the operation.

Amara takes her first steps in a cast, after an unprecedented operation to treat her fracture.
Credit: Knowsley Safari

After 27 weeks of convalescence, Amara was finally able to remove her cast. Little by little, she began to join the other rhinos in the enclosure. Throughout her rehabilitation, she showed remarkable resilience. Indeed, she gradually got back to her habits, while evolving in a secure and supervised space.

This operation marks a turning point in veterinary medicine, particularly for large mammals in captivity. The techniques developed and documented during the procedure could potentially be reused in the future. Although of course, veterinarians hope that this will not be necessary.