Wild Sightings

ANGRY RHINO WAKES UP FROM SEDATION AND CHARGES AT CONSERVATIONISTS TRUCK, DESTROYING IT WITH HORN

An angry rhino woke up from sedation and charged at a conservationist’s truck, destroying it with its horn.

Willie Viljoen was unloading a white rhino in the Northern Cape, South Africa, on September 19 when the huge animal turned aggressive.

Dramatic footage – viewed more than 6.3million times – shows the 15-year-old suddenly turn and ram Willie’s Toyota Hilux with its horn.

Using its huge bulk, the rhino punctured the side of the vehicle as well as its tyres in its repeated charges before walking away.

Willie said: “This isn’t a common occurrence, white rhinos are generally quite docile. They’re actually the sweetest animals.

“This was so unexpected but this is part of the job. It sucks as I will need a new vehicle but at least the animal is safe and that’s all that matters.

“They don’t really have much violence or anger in them. They don’t see very well, they smell well though.

“They’re normally under the influence of drugs and stand around before walking off slowly and calmly. This was so strange that this wanted to fight us.

“The damage is still being checked by the insurance company, the vehicle has been collected. We don’t know if it will be written off.”

Willie was part of a team relocating the white rhino from the Limpopo province, South Africa, to help with breeding genetics in the Northern Cape.

Willie said: “Most of the animals in South Africa are privately owner to try and protect conservation.

“But there is not much migration throughout the country so private reserves and parks trade genetics with each other.

“This one was moved because they have females on that reserve that needed a new breeding bull for genetic variation to try and prevent inbreeding.

“I’m not sure why it was so aggressive. The best explanation is that this individual was a bit more aggressive than others.

“The sedation drugs obviously wore off after transportation as he had been extremely calm on the journey there.

“He was a decent passenger, he wasn’t unwieldy or moving around much up until we released him.

“We don’t know why it wanted to fight us. Originally we thought it was just going to walk away calmly before deciding to turn back around.”