New Year - New Orphan

Rhino poaching in the area has become relentless and with more rhino mothers being killed, more rhino calves are being orphaned.

This latest male orphan was spotted just a few days into January and after being found by the helicopter was darted and then loaded into a truck for safe transport to the orphanage. Thankfully on arrival at the orphanage on a hot day with the awaiting team concerned about his welfare, apart from having sores all over his little body, he was in good condition. It is thought that he got these sores during his time alone in the bush as it is believed he was alone for at least two weeks.

Luckily he is old enough to eat a lot of grass which is what we believe kept him alive. He weighs 300kg and is estimated to be about seven months old. He must have been exhausted after such a long day as he slept through his first night at the orphanage. He was put on a drip for rehydration and given antibiotics and vitamins. The team tried to offer him a milk bottle a few times without success. This is normal for older orphans.

He has been given the name Msasaneni (Msasa for short) by the rangers who found him, after the area in which he was found.

This now brings the number of orphaned rhinos we have rescued since Little Guy Leko arrived in 2020 to six. With many hungry mouths to feed (seven rhino orphans currently reside at the orphanage), security to keep them safe, trained rhino carers to look after them and improvements to the orphanage needed to help them expand, this really is a critical time for the only dedicated specialist rhino orphanage in Zululand, South Africa.

We call upon your urgent support in these rhino orphans’ time of need. Please give what you can to help us help them.
Helping Rhinos would be so grateful for any donation you can make to ensure Msasa grows and thrives and to keep the expanding orphanage operational. Every rhino really does count.