KEY POINTS:
A blind rhinoceros' life has been saved after keepers trained the two-tonne animal to navigate his outdoor enclosure.
The handlers used sound and smell prompts to help 28-year-old Mandhla cope after he became blind last November after a neurological failure.
A zookeeper noticed the animal, which had been with Auckland Zoo since he was 1, was bumping into things.
Pridelands team leader Michael Batty said Mandhla went into holding stalls to keep him safe and assess his condition.
A decision had to be made on whether the blind rhino's quality of life would be adequate or whether he should be put down.
The enclosure, the rhino's home for about nine years, was full of potential hazards such as troughs, steep slopes and a mud wallow.
Confining the southern white rhino to the stalls where he was unhappy, wasn't eating and walked round in circles had been unpleasant but he needed time to adapt to his blindness while the zoo staff worked on a rehabilitation programme.
Research found no similar experience on which to draw internationally so Mr Batty and his team devised a training schedule using voice commands such as "stop" and scent trails to help Mandhla trace a safe route around the enclosure.
They also concentrated on ways to make a lot of noise when they were in the rhino's vicinity. The keepers made noises with their feet, jingled keys or shook the food bucket so Mandhla could hear them coming quite clearly and not take fright.
The keepers also had him eating his favourite lucerne hay from their hands as well as smelling lavender to encourage him in an intense conditioning programme.
"When Mandy did what we wanted, we would blow a whistle and give him a little award."
By acting almost like seeing eye dogs, the keepers gained more trust from the rhino, which had been aggressive in the past and could only be handled from behind protective barriers.
The rhino grew to crave attention and rubdowns from the keepers who could approach him without fear now that he had become so much more dependent. The zoo built a water trough that was easier for Mandhla to access and put a ramp into his mud wallow so he could feel his way in.
Mandhla now shares the enclosure with springboks and guinea fowl.
And while he might be blind, he still considers himself king of the hill.
When three new rhino arrived at the zoo a month ago, Mandhla, possibly with heightened senses, reacted strongly to their smell on the truck.
Keeper Nat Sullivan said he was acting as the dominant rhino by marking his territory with urine. "He got all macho, his ears pricked up and he was spraying urine."
