What do you do when a rhino breaks a leg? Call a horse doctor, of course
CBC
Dr. David Stack sometimes can't believe that just six months ago, he performed what's believed to be a first-of-its kind leg surgery on a rhinoceros.
Stack, a veterinary surgeon, led the team that conducted keyhole surgery to repair a white rhino's fractured leg near Liverpool, England.
"Myself and my wife were driving about two weeks ago and, just suddenly, the penny dropped, and I went: 'How did we do that? That was crazy,"' the veterinary surgeon told As It Happens host Nil Koksal.
The reason it's so mind-boggling is that, as far as he's aware, nobody has ever done this kind of procedure before.
And also, because he's a horse doctor.
Stack is a senior lecturer in equine surgery at the University of Liverpool. He's also the husband of a conservation scientist and welfare consultant at Knowsley Safari, a zoo in Prescot, England.
So when Amara the notoriously playful two-year-old rhino hurt her leg during a round of roughhousing with another rhinoceros, he was among the first to know about it.
"She's quite a boisterous youngster and used to — well, still does — like getting herself into trouble," Stack said.
When staff at Knowsley saw how serious Amara's injury was, they contacted the university for help with diagnostics.
"We're kind of used to being thrown curveballs in the hospital," Stack said, adding they've also worked with cattle, alpacas, sheep and goats. "We tend to say yes."
The team administered X-rays on Amara and found a nasty fracture on part of her front leg that Stack describes as the "anatomical equivalent of her wrist."
A piece of bone about "the size of a walnut" had broken off and was lodged in her joint, he said, causing huge amounts of swelling.
"Once we had identified this fracture, the real challenge then was how do we manage this?" Stack said. "These things became complicated because, you know, we couldn't find anybody really, who had had experience treating anything like it."
Staff from the university and the zoo pored through the available medical literature, and found no examples of a rhino with this particular injury.
The B.C. government is issuing new guidance for physicians when it comes to treating youth with overlapping cases of mental health and substance use challenges, clarifying the use of involuntary care in the process.
Former Assembly of First Nations national chief RoseAnne Archibald says her lawsuit against the national advocacy organization is moving forward, after settlement talks “were stalled and stonewalled” for 18 months.
An early start to Canada’s flu season is hitting children hard, sending a flood of young patients into multiple pediatric hospitals as medical teams warn that emergency visits and admissions could keep climbing in the weeks ahead.
Energy efficient homes are key to improving some health issues and solving the housing crisis in Indigenous communities, according to a new report on Indigenous housing.
Satellite constellations, networks of multiple satellites that can number from a few dozen to tens of thousands, are interfering with scientific research using ground-based telescopes, but now a new study looks at how they might affect space-bound telescopes like Hubble.
A surge in the rate of incurable prostate cancer cases could be a sign to rethink Canada’s stance on screening for one of the most common diseases for men, according to new research.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is limiting the use of its 973 Chinese-made drones to non-sensitive operations, stating the devices present "high security risks, primarily due to their country of origin."
As Katrina Bellavance’s seven-week-old daughter kept coughing non-stop, the Calgary mother unzipped her newborn’s pajamas and saw the skin around her tiny ribs tugging inward with each laboured breath.
Assembly of First Nations chiefs are gathering this week in Ottawa for their annual December meeting, which will include discussions on the federal government’s major projects office and the urgent need for First Nations infrastructure, the AFN says.
The company behind three major data centres in northern B.C. and the Kootenays is making a big shift.
Medical professionals say a 2021 report supported by Health Canada could have a major impact on how the medical system can better understand chronic pain and the best ways to diagnose it — something that has been considered a major weakness in health care up to this point.
In a quiet room in the University of New Brunswick's library, Ramona Nicholas gives a small laugh when asked what it's like to be part of an archeological project involving her ancestors.
A long-delayed project to build the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii has been given new life, as Spain has offered new funding and a new location on the island of La Palma.