White Rhinoceros: Newborn in South Africa

Her name is Daisy, it’s a female of white rhinoceros born on August 11 at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary in South Africa. This is one of the largest South African projects of environmental and animal protection through the rescue and rehabilitation of rhinoceroses. Precisely those specimens that have escaped poaching. Daisy is the daughter of two white rhinoceroses who escaped poaching in the past. Her mother Olivia was orphaned in 2013 because of poachers who killed her mother. When she was only ten months old, she was rescued and taken to Care for Wild.

Olivia was one of the first white rhinoceroses to take her program from revalidation and to do adjustment to the wild life. With Storm, the male white rhinoceros with whom she had already sired two other small rhinoceroses, she has now given birth to the third, Daisy. Here their story is a leading example for understanding how conservation policies are helpful in the fight against poaching. In addition, also to prevent the destruction of fauna by combating climate change.

Complete and successful rehabilitation of an orphaned rhinoceros requires commitment, dedication and most importantly, time. There are multiple stages in the rehabilitation journey, but each stage is designed to heal, nurture and prepare it as it grows for release into the wild. Our facilities are purpose built to house and support orphans during the early and vulnerable stages of their rehabilitation. Rhino cubs even drink their mother’s milk until they are about 16 months old, consuming about 16 liters of milk per day. When ready, they are introduced to other orphaned rhinoceroses to form mini-groups. A particularly important stage of the rehabilitation process as it develops their social behavior by learning to orientate themselves between the rhinoceros body language, their vocalizations and the interaction with members of their own species. The rehabilitation phase can take up to three or four years, but this broad and comprehensive program leads to the success of the release and ultimately the survival of the species.

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary

The center was founded in 2015 by Petronel Nieuwoudt within the 28 thousand hectares of the Barberton Nature Reserve. In addition, there are the “delivererThe staff at the center who monitor the rhinoceroses on a daily basis gradually let them get used to the environment. The birth event also affected the following days. From the baby’s first steps, then breastfeeding his mother, to meeting his stepbrother Pellble, another of Storm’s sons.