UK team performs surgery to fix rhino's broken leg, an operation they say is world's 1st

LONDON -- A team of over ten vets – including specialist surgeons, anaesthetists, and animal keepers – have on Thursday performed what they described as a ground-breaking world-first surgery on a Rhino with a broken leg.

Amara is an almost 2-year old Southern white rhino whose home is the Knowsley Safari Park near Prescot, in northwestern England.

Vets say they performed a lengthy "world first medical procedure" on the Rhino, who had suffered a broken leg.

"Earlier this year, Amara began limping on her right front leg," Knowsley Safari Park told ABC News in a statement. "The Knowsley Safari team brought in specialist equine surgeons from the University of Liverpool to help with the diagnosis, where radiographs confirmed a fractured ulna."

The ulna -- also known as the ulnar bone -- is a long forearm bone that stretched from the elbow to the wrist in humans. For Rhinos, the Ulna is associated with the lower front leg of the animal.

The safari park says no records or documentation exists worldwide for this form of surgery, the team having to use expertise in treating horses with similar injuries to apply it to Amara for the groundbreaking surgery.

"Under anaesthesia in Amara's enclosure, the large team performed a lengthy operation, including key-hole surgery of Amara's wrist, in a procedure lasting five hours."

Dr. David Stack, senior lecturer in Equine Surgery at the University of Liverpool, says the surgery was "unlike they have experienced previously."

"Due to the unprecedented nature of the procedure, we didn't know how much room we would have to operate, or how much of the affected area we would be able to see," Stack said.

He added, "We were unsure if the cast would be strong enough and how Amara would cope with such a restriction on her limb. We hoped that she would accept it and that she would be able to move around, get down and, importantly, back up again but this was unchartered water."

The Zoo says Amara wore a full limb cast to support her leg and was kept in her enclosure to minimize her movement. The zoo says she is doing "well" with her treatment and wearing the cast, which is set to be removed in May, the zoo told ABC News.

Southern white rhinos are commonly found in savannahs of southern and eastern Africa. The species is today listed as 'near threatened' due to 'decades of rampant poaching' for Rhino horn, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

The zoo describes Amara as a Rhino known for her "boisterous play," a trait the zoo says is typical of her species.

"Treating Amara has been a truly ground-breaking veterinary journey incorporating many firsts which we will now document should another animal team encounter similar scenarios in the future, though we very much hope the notes are never needed," said Stack.