A rhino in South Africa that survived a brutal mutilation from poachers is receiving a new elephant skin bandage to treat and protect its battered face.
Dr. Johan Marais, an equine and wildlife surgeon looking over the rhino's treatment, says that the bandage is an alternative to conventional plastic or fiberglass shields, and he believes that the elephant skin is more suitable to fit the contours of a rhino's face, according to Fox News.
The incident leading to the bandage involved a group of poachers that were after the animal's horns.
The poachers shot the 12 year-old rhino on Aug. 5 at Pongola wildlife park then began tearing through her face to extract her horns, Yahoo! News reported. But the poachers only got away with one, either because they ran out of time or the animal got up.
However, the rhino's 5-year-old calf was not so lucky, as the poachers kiled the young animal and took both of its horns.
Poachers killed 1,215 rhinos last year, reflective of the growing demand for the rhino's horn, which many believe to have medicinal benefits, though no medicinal benefits have been found in the scientific community, according to USA Today.
