An older Rhino orphan has been taken to The Rhino Orphanage; due to his age, the team have had to adapt their approach.
Undisclosed Location, South Africa (26 January 2024) – The Rhino Orphanage have shared a post on Facebook, introducing a new orphan to supporters. The new orphan is older than most, aged between 10 months and a year, which has pushed the team to adapt their processes to make sure he feels safe.
As the rhino is so much older, he is much stronger and not used to humans, which makes him dangerous to engage with. Instead of blindfolding him, which is what is usually done for new arrivals, to help them calmly settle in, he has been released into a pen where he is safe but can move around and explore.
He was found near his mother’s carcass – it is unclear the cause of her death but poaching has been ruled out. Once spotted, the rhino orphan disappeared but was spotted a few days later and picked up.
While he is much older than most orphans who arrive at the orphanage, he is still far too young to be alone in the wild and would not survive on his own for long.
“Because he is an older calf our approach is slightly different, no blindfold and he is offloaded in an outside enclosure. Luckily he is in excellent condition with no injuries except a minor scrape on his horn base during capture/transport.” – The Rhino Orphanage
They will do everything possible to help him settle and continue his growth and progress so he can be released when he is much older.
He doesn’t have a name yet, but we will update you once he has been named and has settled in at the orphanage. You can also keep updated via the Facebook page here.
Sources: TRO
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