Baby rhino in epic rescue
SKUKUZA - An orphaned rhino calf is recovering in an enclosure at the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary after an elaborate rescue mission in the southern parts of the Kruger National Park (KNP) on July 5.
The male calf, estimated to be between six and eight months old, was spotted by pure chance by a member of Jock Safari Lodge's Environmental Monitoring Unit (JEMU) who was on his way to the concession.
When it was found, the calf was clearly in distress, wandering around on his own just off a main tourist road. Rhino mothers very rarely leave their calves, which indicated that the mother was most likely already dead.
The KNP regional ranger was alerted, who instantly assembled a reaction team in a combined effort to save the orphaned calf.
The rhino calf was, however, moving deeper into the bush and, fearing that the reaction team might not find the calf if he lost sight of him, the JEMU member started tracking it on foot.
After about two kilometres, the calf suddenly came into contact with a herd of about 15 elephants. The elephants were aggressive and repeatedly charged towards the baby rhino.
The JEMU member and the KNP official, who had caught up with him, distracted the herd by shouting and clapping hands to draw attention away from the rhino calf.
Dazed and confused, the baby rhino continued to follow the elephants. But the matriarch’s charging continued, placing the calf in grave danger.
After several charges, the calf fortunately ran off into another direction, where he was later found standing next to the carcass of his mother.
The mother had been killed by poachers and her horns had been removed. She was left to die, unable to provide for or defend her vulnerable baby.
By then there were several lions very close to the carcass, making advances on the calf. The lions spotted the human presence and left the calf to stare down the JEMU member with growls and tail-whipping.
The team retreated to a large termite mound, where they communicated new GPS coordinates to the reaction team. They kept the baby rhino in sight until the helicopter arrived.
With the arrival of the chopper, the exhausted baby rhino gave one last chase, followed by an enraged elephant cow. But the helicopter pilot skilfully managed to separate the calf from the elephants to give the vet an opportunity to dart the baby.
After a few minutes, the calf was
tranquilised, and the reaction team could move in and perform life-saving first-aid. A drip was inserted to treat its obvious dehydration and the calf was safely transferred by helicopter to the Care For Wild Rhino Sanctuary, where its founder Petronel Nieuwoudt and her team were on standby to meet the precious new arrival.
The baby rhino was taken into the ICU for monitoring and to receive vital fluids through the line that was administered in the field.
The calf was assessed for wounds, but apart from scratch marks from lions, he seemed to have escaped relatively unscathed. The sanctuary team spent the first night in the enclosure with him to monitor his progress.
In a recent update, it was reported that the calf has accepted the bottle of specialised formulated milk and is drinking about 16 litres a day. He remains in a small enclosure and is still on a drip to monitor his vitals and organs.
To recover from severe trauma like this, the first 24 to 72 hours are the most critical and it is therefore estimated that he should have a good chance of survival.
Having survived all of this, he has been dubbed Nhlanhla, "the lucky one" in local Shangaan language.
Videos of the rescue day and also Nhlanhla’s arrival at Care For Wild will be available on
Lowvelder’s website. Care For Wild also posts regular updates on their Instagram page @careforwild.
Jock Safari Lodge was the first private concession within the Kruger National Park and has worked closely with SANParks in support of various conservation initiatives over the past 20 years, including the protection of endangered species such as rhinos.
The first 24 to 72 hours are the most critical and it is therefore estimated that he should have a good chance of survival