Weston man teams up with South African charity to save endangered species
Rhinos are poached for their horns - Credit: Archant
A Worle man has created a new gadget which will help an endangered species in South Africa after they have been attacked by hunters.
Rhinos are endangered - Credit: Archant
Benjamin Peters' teamed up with scientists to make the first device in the veterinarian world which works to rebuild lost facial features of poached rhinos.
The 3D scanner examines the wound, and a titanium graft coated with antibiotics will be made using the accurate print to stop it getting infected.
It will then be surgically placed onto the skull.
Skin tissue will grow over the implanted device so the rhino makes a healthy recovery.
Benjamin Peters is on a mission to help rhinos - Credit: Archant
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Benjamin is working with Saving The Survivors at Kruger National Park in South Africa who will locate and care for the mammal after it has been poached.
He said: "I'm trying to stop rhinos from becoming extinct especially the ones through poaching.
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"This surgery is the first in the world to help the injured rhinos using new technology.
"Everyone talks about how bad the problem (poaching) is but no one seems to have a solution but this is a solution.
"It's a challenge for the South African Government to tackle poaching because of resources and rhino ownership rights.
"Rhinos will be extinct in the next 10 years if 82 per cent of poaching doesn't stop."
The rhino will be taken into a protected reserve after surgery - with a skin graft placed over the top to seal the wound - to breed and repopulate.
Rhinos are poached for their horns, which are sold around the world for millions of pounds, which has led to them becoming endangered.
Benjamin is also the founder of Explorers Educate programme, which goes around schools in North Somerset to offer free lessons about the environment.
He added: "The programme has an amazing outreach; students in the area are able to learn about the impact we have on our planet through my adventures.
"The project is so important because it plants a seed of knowledge and creates greater environment awareness from a young age."
To learn more about Explorers Educate, visit www.explorerseducate.com
