Care for the Wild Rhino Sanctuary, the largest of its kind in the world, has recently taken in an orphaned calf.
The NPC shared an update on the newest member of their crash, who is yet to be named.
‘Late last night, we removed the blindfold of our newest calf. New calves are normally very scared and unsure. It is highly likely that the last humans they encountered killed their Mom,’ read the update.
Care for the Wild explained that in order to reduce stress, new calves are blindfolded and wear earplugs. The carers will then work with their sense of smell, taste and touch to stimulate a positive association with their milk and bottle.
When carers feed the calf, it creates trust between the animal and human.
‘The blindfold is removed whilst the calf is drinking so that they remain calm when they first see the person who is feeding them. This also helps to create a positive association with the caregiver,’ said the sanctuary.
He will soon leave ICU and meet his new family, Anchor, Yster, Cotton and Ranger.
The male calf has been feeding successfully from his bottle.
The illegal rhino horn trade pushed Southern white rhinos to near threatened on the IUCN’s Red List and the smaller black rhino to critically endangered. The Northern white rhino is extinct in the wild however scientists successfully created embryos of the subspecies in September 2019.
This rhino sanctuary was borne as a result of the rhino poaching crisis that plagues South Africa. Many calves are left orphaned as a result.
sanctuaries such as this help to eventually get the animal to a place where it can be reintroduced to the wild.
Founded by Petronel Nieuwoudt, Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary holds an official MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) with South African National Parks in a joint effort to safeguard the future of the rhino species and South Africa’s heritage.
Watch below to see how the carers removed the calf’s blindfold and how he has been feeding in his holding pen.
Image: Screenshot from video
