Care for the Wild Rhino Sanctuary have introduced their newest orphan, Little Tom, to the rest of the crash.
The young Southern white rhino was brought in to the organisation on October 13 and is between 5-6 months old.
SANParks veterinarian Dr Lufunu Netshitavhadulu, Pilot David Simelane and Rob Thompson carefully transported the animal to the sanctuary. He was safely moved to the ICU and received around-the-clock care.
After monitoring Little Tom, getting his vitals back on track and getting him used to bottle feeding, the young bull is now socialising with the other orphaned rhinos: Anchor, Yster, Cotton and Ranger.
Post-mud bath happiness.
‘Less than a week ago our newest calf was still wandering the bush with his Mom. In the last week he has suffered such traumatic loss, pain and fear and yet somehow a glimmer of hope, peace and trust still shines from his eyes. Little Tom, as he has now been named, met his new family this weekend,’ said Care for the Wild in a Facebook post.
The crash have taken Little Tom on as one of their own and while the circumstance surrounding each of these little lives is tragic, there is a silver lining that they are in incredibly capable and caring hands.
Watch below to see the youngsters meet their newest family member:
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.
Picture: Screenshot from Facebook video
