HEALTH DATA GAINED FROM BLACK RHINO IMMOBILIZED FOR RELOCATION

The capture of black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) for relocation within Zimbabwe, for export, and to a lesser extent capture of black rhino in Namibia, presented opportunities to take blood samples for laboratory testing for antibodies to various diseases, to establish physiologic norms. and for electrophoretic analysis of protein markers of heterozygosity. Both leptospirosis and vitamin E deficiency have been implicated in the "hemolytic anemia syndrome " deaths of a number of captive black rhino. Vitamin E levels in black rhinoceros we sampled confirmed the reports of Dierenfeld et al., that diets of free-ranging rhino in diverse locations apparently contain considerably higher levels of that vitamin than do diets of captive animals. Its role in "hemolytic anemia syndrome " remains unproven. A total of 60 rhino captured at 5 locations in Zimbabwe and 3 animals from Namibia were tested for agglutinating antibodies to seven or eight serovars (strains) of leptospirosis. Most rhino from Zimbabwe had titers to several serovars and 38 (63%) had titers greater than 1:100 to at least one serovar. Rhino from Namibia had little evidence of exposure to leptospiras. Microenvironmental differences at water sources in the two locations ma