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Rhino Resource Center: Rhino Forums > Rhinos in Captivity > Breeding > Horn removal

Posted by: CassandraS Jan 29 2008, 10:02 PM

Hello, I was wondering if any zoos routinely remove horns before doing introductions? If so, do you anesthetize or train for cooperation? Thanks for any info.

Posted by: Duncan Feb 11 2008, 07:33 AM

When dehorning in the field, there is obviously no possibility to train for cooperation so the rhino has to be immobilised, however we use chainsaws to remove the horn (the eyes are covered and earmuffs are placed in the ears). This process can take anything up to 5-10 minutes, and I cannot see that any rhino in an alert state will be happy for such activity so close to its face. How else can you remove the horn with less activity over a shorter time period?

Posted by: adam Feb 11 2008, 05:32 PM

Cassandra Horn removal for introductions are not done that often for rhino intros. It is more important to have "turn arounds" in your yards to allow the females to turn when being pursued by the male and a large enough space for them to separate from one another if they need to. There will be no doubt that there will be some sparrng but if you have an experienced female she should be able to control the sparing. Here at Columbus with intial introductions we have several days of observations by the keepers armed with hoses and other deterrents to separate or control the fighting, but we rarely have interjected in the sparing. Our female controls the situation pretty well. After several days/weeks of howdy situations you should be able to figure out how they will get along. If you want to lesson the fighting you may try introducing them when the female is not cycling because the sparing may be not be as intense. They are designed for this type of interaction though so I would not think dehorning would be necessary. adam

Posted by: adam Feb 11 2008, 05:33 PM

And, as far as trimming their horns, we have need to trim our females horn a couple of times because of the way it was growing and we did it by training her to stand for the procedure and then used gangly wire to saw off what we needed to. We did not have to trim off large amounts so it was fairly simple process, I am not sure how it would of worked if we trimmed at the base.

Posted by: nyukitx Feb 12 2008, 03:18 AM

Just to add: We had a young rhino with a verticle crack at the base of his horn we were worried about spreading and causing an infection a few years back. He tollerated our filing on the horn right at the base to stop the crack from spreading but it took several days with only a couple minutes a session. And each trial he stood for less time so I would have to guess it would be very difficult to condition for.

Posted by: CassandraS Feb 12 2008, 03:02 PM

Thanks for the replies. My supervisor had suggested it, and I thought it sounded uneccesary, but I thought I would see if anyone else does it. This will be a reintroduction after being separated for 3 years(for a calf), but I think everything will be fine.

Posted by: CassandraS Oct 21 2008, 06:56 PM

Just an update for everyone. We finally re-introduced our breeding pair after 4 years of being separated. We decided not to cut the male's horn at all. The male chased the female on the first day, and cut her pretty good under both back legs as well as some scratches along her sides and hips. Thankfully, that was the extent of the physical altercations. We gave the female a course of antibiotics and cleaned the wounds daily, and she is doing just fine. They finally got cozy after 4 1/2 days together. We are considering conditioning our male to allow us to saw just the tip of his horn off for future re-introductions so that we can avoid the injuries that our female sustained. Our current exhibit is probably part of the problem, because it is not as large as it should be for introductions (10,000 sq. ft.). Thankfully, we will be building a new exhibit and facility next year, with a lot more square footage! Just wanted to share the end result.