So just an update - I haven't been writing blogs lately because I had to go work at another rehab centre for a while and there was no wifi.
I went to help out at Care For Wild in Nelspruit because they were short on staff. It was a great experience and I got to see how they work with orphaned rhinos and other animals. At Care For Wild they had quite a few rhinos ranging from a few weeks old to 4 years old. They also had many other animals like lions, caracals, owls, mongooses and a baby hippo.
Young barn owl named Screech
Emma, the baby hippo, was washed away from her mother during a flood when she was a few weeks old. She grew up surrounded by people and the dogs at the centre, so she's pretty convinced that she's a dog and not a hippo. She really loves people visiting when she's in her little pond and will often come out to lie next to you and take a nap. She blows air in your face when she's happy to see you, which is too cute!
Emma
Now for the rhinos - starting from the youngest we have Manji and Venus. Venus came in with an abscess under her foot after standing on a thorn so she has to wear a cast to protect the wound. Venus has lots of attitude and always shows people that she's the boss. Manji's mother was killed by poachers when he was very young and because he didn't get milk from his mom for some time, his growth was badly stunted. He's the sweetest little baby and he loves to roll over for a belly scratch, until Venus comes along, and pushes him out the way to get all the attention.
Manji (left) and Venus (right)
Next up we have Thor, River and Tyson. They are all around 8 months old and were all taken to the centre because of poaching. Thor is a little black rhino who gets scared if a butterfly flies past him. His favourite thing to do is stand all day and lick the salt lick in the camp while the other rhinos are taking a nap. River is the leader of the group and she has no problem putting the boys in their place especially, when it comes to milk time. Tyson has a very relaxed personality and loves to get his face tickled. He enjoys it so much that one day he actually fell asleep standing, with his head on my lap. The other three babies are Tana, Winter and Mabush. They are also at the centre due to poaching and they're about the same age as the other three. After Winter's mother was poached, hyenas chewed her ears off but luckily her wounds healed nicely and now she has little ear stumps. While I was at the centre, Winter managed to hook her horn on something and tear it off. Now she has a stump where her horn used to be but with time it will grow back. She is now a very strange looking rhino but is still the cutest baby ever!
Thor, Mabush, Tana, River, Winter & Tyson
Thor - baby black rhino
Winter
The other animal I got to work closely with was Dexter, a baby mongoose. He was orphaned and then taken to Car For Wild to be hand raised. He goes absolutely crazy when he sees his milk bottle, squeaking and running around until we feed him. We would also have to dig in the ground for grubs to feed him, and when we gave him one he would "freak out" with excitement, grab it and run away with it. He would also constantly squeak when people were around so when he slept in our rooms we didn't get much sleep!
Dexter
After 2 weeks of being kept very busy at Care For Wild, sadly it was time to leave. I am grateful for the experience that I gained while being there, and hope to go back sometime soon.
