My little Ollie monster

My little Ollie monster

The first story is definitely going to be about Ollie as he was the most special baby to me. Ollie came to Moholoholo when he was about 4 months old. He was found by his mothers side three days after she had been poached, so he was very weak and dehydrated. The night that he arrived we left him to settle in as he was terrified after everything he had been through. The following morning Brian was on a mission to get Ollie to start drinking milk from a bottle so he could build up his strength again. It took about 24 hours of bashing and charging but Ollie finally started drinking his milk.

The next step was to earn his trust so that I could become his surrogate mom but this was easier said than done. This meant that my days consisted of sitting with Ollie, sleeping with him and feeding him milk around the clock. I have to admit that the first few days were not as fun as I thought they would be because Ollie was still very scared and kept a good distance away from me except for when he got the courage to run over and hit me. You might think that a 4 month old baby rhino is small but believe me they are incredibly strong and not afraid to show you who's boss. After a few days of constant talking to him and reassuring him, we made progress and he let me touch him. A few days after that he was sleeping next to me with his head on my lap - the most amazing experience I've ever had! 

Initially taking Ollie for a walk was a challenge because he would follow me until something gave him a fright and then he would run back to his room and we would have to start all over again. Eventually he became used to people, cars and other new happenings. We would go out every morning and spend the day in the bush, either sleeping under a tree or finding some browse for Ollie to munch on. Black rhinos eat plants and trees and because Ollie was so small I often had to pull down the branches of his favourite trees. Ollie also loved to eat fruit, but if you only gave him one grape or one piece of apple he would get 'fruit rage' which usually meant that you would have to jump up a tree to escape a very angry little rhino. There was one time 

when Cassandra (who was always a bit nervous around Ollie) decided to give him a strawberry... Only one strawberry... Wrong thing to do! Ollie was not impressed and chased her around, charging at her until she managed to climb up on a bench. Once I managed to stop laughing I lured Ollie away with some milk and Cassandra could make her escape. 

It was very exciting to work with Ollie as he would often change from being sweet and lovable to being completely wild and unpredictable. I never knew what mood he was going to be in so this always kept me on my toes. Ollie was also very independent and although he enjoyed having me around (baby rhinos stay very close to their moms for the first two years), he was also quite happy to be left alone to do what he wanted. One of Ollie's favourite activities was mud wallowing. This involved me having to get into the mud bath with Ollie and I spent many happy times playing in the mud with him. Ollie would become excited and energetic when it was pouring with rain which meant that I had to play out in the rain with him. If people think that rhinos are slow clumsy animals I'm here to tell you all that they are extremely fast! It's like 

trying to keep up with a 2 tonne galloping horse. The best part about Ollie running in the rain 

was that he would slip and slide on the wet grass or mud. He was very cute to watch and always made me laugh.

Unfortunately Ollie only reached 2 years old as he became another victim to poaching. This is a crisis that is only getting worse in Africa as the demand for rhino horn increases. I miss Ollie everyday and I now work to save the lives of other rhinos who have been orphaned due to poaching. 

Luckily I got to spend two years with my little Ollie monster so I have many more amazing stories to tell.