Tragic News on Rhino Orphan Nandi

On the 5th of April rhino orphan Nandi
tragically died from a heart and liver condition.

Nandi was cared for at partner, the Zululand Rhino Orphanage (ZRO) and had recently been introduced back to a life in the wild following her rehabilitation. 

A full post-mortem was carried out by the vet team, with the histopathology showing that Nandi's heart and liver conditions developed over a period of time. Nandi and her companion Storm were released together and had been doing well since release. We monitored their progress daily however Nandi did not adapt as well as Storm and did not gain condition even with supplementation. Storm however is coping well in his new life and we will continue to monitor his progress closely.

Considering the amount of effort that has gone into Nandi's care and rehabilitation, her death is heart-breaking.

Unfortunately with orphaned rhino we know there are many challenges that lie ahead when they come into our facility and this is a painful reminder that success is never guaranteed with wildlife rehabilitation, and in particular with rhinos who have had such difficult starts to life.

"This is a truly tragic incident and our hearts go out to Megan and the whole team at Zululand Rhino Orphanage. We all had such high hopes that Nandi would successful adapt to a life in the wild, but it just wasn't meant to be. I know the team could have done no more in preparing Nandi for release back into a natural habitat and we will continue to work closely with ZRO in rescuing and rehabilitating rhinos orphans".

Simon Jones, CEO, Helping Rhinos