Working at Care For Wild

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. 

Sleeping rhinos

I'm sure most of you have had your dog or cat climb onto your bed and proceed to lie right in your spot and take up all the space... Well I've had the same thing happen to me with a 500kg baby rhino! 

This is Lunga. He was only a month old when he arrived at The Rhino Orphanage. His mother was injured while the two of them were being relocated. The vet was worried that she wouldn't make it so he was brought to us. The plan was to reunite them once she recovered but unfortunately she died a few weeks later. 

The first few days after Lunga arrived we stayed by his side 24/7 to keep him company, so this meant sleeping with him as well! Lucky for me Lunga was still very small so I didn't get too squashed. He wanted the bed all too himself and of course being a rhino he got what he wanted....

During the night Lunga kept getting up and sucking on my arm, letting me know that he wanted his milk. He was being fed every two hours throughout the night and often needed a little belly scratch to help him fall back asleep. 

The other baby rhino that took up my whole bed was Dani, a little white rhino at Moholoholo. She actually has a similar story to Lunga, because her mother was being relocated when she was still pregnant. Due to stress though, she gave birth prematurely and rejected her baby. 

At some point I also had to sleep with Dani for a few nights. Now, Dani was much bigger than Lunga. She was about 8 months old which meant she took up a lot more space. She also wanted to be as close to me as possible so lying on top of me was her solution! The other thing about Dani was that she had tummy issues. She had quite a serious problem with diarrhoea (and gas!) so you can imagine how those nights went. I was up most of the night because every time she moved I panicked, thinking that there was diarrhoea coming my way! Besides the diarrhoea, Dani was great to sleep with because she kept me warm and let me use her as a pillow! 

Me using Dani as a pillow 

Dani using me as a pillow 

Sleeping with baby rhinos is the best part of my job!

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. 

The Rhino Orphange intros

Now time for The Rhino Orphanage introductions... First lets talk about the people I work with who are as crazy as I am. Hillary, who's from America, never fails to put a smile on your face. She's been coming to the orphanage since it first opened in 2012 and she is now also permanent staff. Hillary is so confident with the rhinos and she knows how to show them who's boss. Next we have Simone, she's South African and she taught me a lot about how things are done here at the orphanage. She's the strictest mom with the babies unless she's dealing with one of Faith's bad moods. Gaby, who's from Mexico, is the manager/vet for the orphanage and I've learn a lot from her about the health and well being of baby rhinos. Next is Carolyn, a vet nurse from Australia who sadly had to leave last month but we still had some good times with her and she cooked us all really yummy dinners! I definitely can't forget about Camilla who was here for a while in December to help us with all the babies. 

Left to right: Simone, Gaby, Angie, Me, Hillary

Now for the babies we have here. We have the 'teenagers' crash (a crash is a group of rhinos) which consists of Nyani, Shaka and Lesedi. Nyani is the boss. She decides where everyone goes and what they do but she lets the boys think that they're in charge. She is convinced that she's a human and she still really loves her milk and will often follow you around, mouth open, begging for milk. Shaka is the only black rhino here although I'm sure he thinks he's a white rhino. He doesn't go anywhere without Nyani. Oh, and he gets a fright from just about everything! Lesedi is the big fat one of the crash. He still isn't too sure of people but he secretly wants to be loved and scratched all the time.

The teenagers

Then we have 3 babies who we call the 'tots' or 'brats' depending what mood they're in. Kumba is the oldest of the three but he cries the most out of them all. Kumba is the sweetest rhino I've ever met and it doesn't take long for him to creep his way into your heart. He's a big fat gentle giant who loves to go for a nice stroll everyday. Lunga, the younger male is sweet only when he wants to be! He's in charge and he knows it. He has a very nonchalant personality and couldn't care less if you left him alone in the middle of the bush. Faith was very scared of people when she first arrived and she still is sometimes. She takes a very long time to trust someone but once you win her over, her love is unconditional. She has lots of attitude with the boys but she hates being left behind so she's always right by their side. Well that's it for the rhinos as the last baby a Bushbaby, named Yoda. He's the funniest little animal and although he's been released he still comes by every night to say hello and of course pee on everyone! 

The tots

Yoda 

Now you know all the people and animals... Let the stories begin! 

Blog intro

Okay so all my family and friends have been wanting to know all about my work at moholoholo rehab centre and the rhino orphanage so I've decided to start this blog so everyone can read about my wildlife adventures. So I went to Moholoholo in 2012 and ended up spending two years working there and I loved every minute of it! I met a variety of animals while working there and fell in love with two baby rhinos which is why I am now working at The Rhino Orphanage with lots of babies to love. Throughout this blog I'll add in my stories from moholoholo and will keep you updated on the naughty babies that I live with. 

I'm gonna start by introducing everyone and all the special animals I got to work with at  Moholoholo. First there's Brian, he was my boss at Moholoholo and wow did I learn a lot from him! He has so much knowledge about the bush and all the animals in it as he spent his whole life living in the bush. He taught me so much about the behavior of animals, what to do when they come in injured and how to hand raise many different animals. It just amazed me how good he was with all animals and how he knew everything about the bush. Next up is Cassandra, we worked and lived together at Moholoholo and we're still best friends. She has such a passion for animals and nature which is why we became such good friends. When I arrived there she was raising three adorable cheetah cubs and she's the best cheetah mommy ever! We had so many late nights feeding babies or just staying up and moaning about how tired we were. 

Now for the babies at Moholoholo. My first baby I got to raise there (and the reason I love rhinos so much) is a little white rhino named Dani. She was so sweet and loving and she was convinced that she was a human and not a rhino so she couldn't understand when she was allowed in the house with us. She really loved her milk and if you didn't give it to her fast enough she would cry and whine until she got it. Ollie, a baby black rhino, will always be my favorite little boy. His mom was poached when he was a few months old so he did not trust people at all which made feeding him his bottle a very intimidating task. He was such a little monster as he would run around chasing people up trees and termite hills while I would stand there laughing at everyone. He would often switch between his soft side where he would be sleeping with his head on my lap to his wild side. 

That's the rhinos done at Moholoholo and now for my cutie pie baby giraffe, Melmin! She was a gentle but very clumsy giant. It's like she didn't have control of her long legs and would often run into trees and other objects. Her favorite game was to gallop through a crowd of people as they would all scatter running and screaming which she loved. The last three hooligans in this intro are the three lion cubs... Nandi, Nduna and Mufasa. Nandi was the little princess of the 'pride' and she was definitely the boss. She loved sitting on our laps, even when she was all grown up and would squash us!  Nduna, her brother, was like a cuddly teddy bear. He loved to just laze around in the house instead of playing outside with the others. Mufasa was from a different pride but he soon found his place in our little baby pride. He was quite shy and a bit unsure of people but once you won him over he was very sweet and lovable. 

So that's all the Moholoholo intros done, next time will be intros for The Rhino Orphanage so stay tuned ;)