Friday 2 January 2015

Baby rhino born at Werribee zoo dies after suffering bacterial infection

The three-day old southern white rhino, Salt, was put down by veterinarians when her condition worsened due to an incurable inflammation of the stomach


theguardian.com, Tuesday 30 December 2014 23.01 GMT

The baby rhino, Salt, being fed by zoo staff after birth (this video has no sound)

A three-day-old rhino born at Werribee Open Range zoo has died after suffering an “aggressive” bacterial infection, the zoo has confirmed.

Veterinary staff decided to put the baby rhino down after an endoscopy revealed that the infection had caused irreparable damage to its stomach.

After its birth on Saturday, the infant female rhino was placed in round-the-clock intensive care due to an infection contracted from her mother, Si Si.

Zoo staff said the rhino initially responded well to antibiotics but then started to lose interest in drinking her milk and was showing signs of discomfort. The endoscopy showed an inflammation of the stomach lining due to an additional infection. The zoo said the condition was incurable.

The rhino was given the interim name of Salt, until an African name was chosen. She had an 18-month-old sister called Kipenzi.

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