This South African rhino, who was mistakenly abandoned by his mom, is now a happy camper — after being saved by a rescue team.
The mother had recently mistaken another calf for her own wounded one and abandoned him, Barcroft Media reported.
Divan Grobler, a team member with Aquila Rescue Centre in Cape Town, spent the night with the animal to see if the mom would come back.
“In the early morning, after about four hours, the mother still hadn’t come back for the baby, so we had to improvise,” he said. “We took him back to the mum and tried to reintroduce him, but we were unsuccessful. The mum was totally confused.”
Grobler said the rescuers began to panic because the rhino was getting dehydrated without the mother’s milk. They took him to a secure location, where they provided nutrition.
“We didn’t think he would make it with all the stress. But thanks to his warrior’s spirit, he’s still going strong,” Grobler said.
The month-old rhino now lives at the Aquila Rescue Centre, where the staffers have developed an 18-month plan to reintroduce him into the wild.
Meanwhile, he consumes up to 20 percent of his body weight of a special formula each day and gets plenty of exercise. He also will be paired with a sheep as a grazing mentor.
