^{Victoria Falls}

There is argument for and against de-horning of rhino. It requires continued debate, scientific research and date collection of results to keep making educated decisions about each rhino that is de-horned.

On Friday the 3rd of September the IAPF led an operation in Victoria Falls to de-horn 5 critically endangered black rhino. The rhino were darted from a helicopter by Zimbabwean Vet Dr Chris Foggin. Ground teams then moved to the location of the downed animal to stabilize the breathing and temperature. Samples were taken by the Wild Horizons team to be analyzed in their new laboratory in Victoria Falls.

The whole day went very well and all animals were back on their feet in a short amount of time. Both mother and calf couples were reunited with each other within 24 hours.

Although extremely sad, the idea behind de-horning is to take away the value of the horn in a desperate effort to protect the rhino. With less than 2500 now left in the world the situation is desperate. Occasionally de-horned animals are still killed by poachers out of spite or to reduce their chance of following those tracks again, but over all their chances of survival are much greater without the horn. The horn, much like hair or fingernails will grow back within 3 years and the process will need to be repeated.

The funding to complete this important operation was generously donated by Channel 9’s 60 Minutes film crew from Australia.