The largest study ever to be conducted on a free-ranging population of rhinoceros has revealed that one in every seven rhino in the Kruger National Park (KNP) is infected with Mycobacterium bovis, the pathogen that causes bovine tuberculosis (bTB).
The study was conducted by Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Animal Tuberculosis (TB) Research Group, South African National Parks (SANParks), and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in the US.
The researchers tested samples from 437 rhino collected from 2016 to 2020 in the KNP, and found an estimated prevalence of infection of 15,4% in black and white rhino populations in the park. While these results are worrying, the evidence provided by the study is crucial to the effective conservation
