Most of the world’s athletes are in training right now for London 2012, the biggest test of their careers, but spare a thought for some sporting white rhinos, limbering (or should that be lumbering?) up to put their own serious training into practice all in the name of scientific research.

Rhino biomechanics may have cutting edge biomimicry applications

We met up with two of the rhinos, Cynthia and her 30 month old son Zamba, at Colchester Zoo, along with keepers Jennie Cook and Jo Roe. Like the best coaches, Jennie and Jo have painstakingly trained their charges to walk to a lure, in return for a fruity treat. It’s enabled them to lead the rhinos over special pressure pads that record the distribution of forces on their feet. We’re impressed by how easily they persuade the animals to walk through a crush and over the pads.

Zamba walks over the pressure pad

‘The pressure pad has thousands of sensors, each telling us the pressure 250 times per second,’ explains researcher John Hutchinson, who is professor of evolutionary biomechanics at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College. ‘It enables us to relate the load on the rhinos’ feet to their anatomy. We’re trying to understand the mechanics of how animals put forces on their feet in relation to the pathology of their feet,’ he tells us.

Mechanical feet for giant robots and prosthetic limbs for injured rhinos are just two of the applied technologies that could result from this unique new research.

The primary aim of the research, to investigate the relationship between the load distribution on rhino feet and pathologies such as arthritis, could lead to improved husbandry of captive animals, and better veterinary treatment for wild rhinos. But John Hutchinson says there are also exciting possibilities in the fields of robotics and biomimicry.

He’s an expert in how large animals stand and move, having studied everything from dinosaurs to elephants. But lately it’s rhinos that have captured his attention.

John explains his studies of elephant feet revealed how their outer toes, which suffer most problems, are under the greatest pressure when walking. He also found that elephants don’t really run, but simply walk faster.

‘Anatomically, rhinos are quite different. They have a very different way of moving, more athletic, and can use all the gaits a horse can use. They have very symmetrical feet, unlike elephants, and seem to put pressure pretty evenly across their feet, which matches their pathology.’

Professor John Hutchinson with research subject Cynthia

Foot disease is one of the biggest causes of morbidity and mortality in large captive animals, but problems such as osteoarthritis or infections often don’t become apparent until the animal goes lame. ‘The earlier we can detect disease, the more we can do to prevent problems,’ John explains. ‘The goal is to develop a clinical diagnostic tool that we can use in any zoo or environment where rhinos are well-behaved. It’s entirely non-invasive, very easy to set up, and rhinos easily get used to it.’

Knowledge gained from the research could also be applied to opportunistic veterinary treatment of foot problems in wild rhinos which have been tranquillised for other reasons, he adds.

John describes his study as ‘basic science’, but points out that there are a wide range of possible applications, beyond improved rhino husbandry. ‘Robotics and our field of locomotion have a very strong relationship. Understanding rhino biomechanics could, for example, help with designing a legged robotic vehicle with large feet, such as a forest explorer. It could also be used with prosthetics, so we could build a mechanical foot that could save an injured rhino. People have already done this with elephants in Asia, making simple prosthetics to replace feet blown off by land mines.’