Pretoria - All white rhino in the Rietvlei nature reserve, outside Pretoria, have been dehorned to protect them from poachers, the City of Tshwane said on Tuesday.
A qualified game capturer conducted the dehorning operation and an applicable dehorning permit was granted for the process, spokesman Selby Bokaba said in a statement.
“The animals and horns were microchipped and DNA samples were taken for the data bank at Onderstepoort.”
He said a total of 1722 rhino had been poached between 2010 and April 30 2013. Three years ago Tshwane lost two of its rhino to poachers.
“When rhinoceros are dehorned the horns will regrow in the same way that a fingernail grows. The regrowth of a rhinoceros horn is estimated to be four to seven cm per year.”
Sapa