Africa Wild

This story and photos were posted on FB by Debbie English:

This little guy lost his mom and wandered all the way to the tourist road. Then adopted the cars as his mommy...how heart wrenching?
My father and the veterinarian managed to tranquilize the poor little thing and fly him to his new home... but not without any hiccups along the way. The pilot had to make an emergency landing after this little guy flat-lined. After 3 minutes of resuscitation and trying everything to save him... everyone involved was amazed (some with tear filled eyes) when he gasped for air and his little heart started up again!! After a rough ride he finally made it to his new home where he probably had a good snooze and is now hopefully settled in.

The public don't often hear about successes like these so I would like to share this happy ending with you and ask to support our rangers, veterinarians and all the other special people involved in the fight against rhino poaching!

Donnie the rhino orphan on road to recovery

2015-07-27 21:06
Jenna Etheridge, News24

Cape Town - A baby rhino which lost his mother to poaching in the Kruger National Park at the weekend ended up flanking a tourist's car with almost the same colouring as himself.

Orphaned Donnie gravitated towards the car parked on a dust road near Phabeni Gate on Friday morning, perhaps hoping someone would look after him.

The story has a somewhat happy ending though, because he is now being looked after by Care for Wild Africa, an organisation that rehabilitates wild animals on a reserve in Mpumalanga.

“He’s doing very well. He drank all his milk and he’s walking around,” the organisation’s Marnelle van der Merwe said on Monday.

The calf is believed to be between a month and two months old. The babies are slowly weaned off milk and get released back into the wild once they are strong enough.

He was named after the Kruger Park’s regional ranger, Don English, who, along with a veterinarian, came to his aid.

English's daughter, Debbie English, posted heartbreaking photos of the orphan on Facebook, along with an explanation on what had happened.

She explained that her father and the vet managed to tranquillise Donnie and fly him to his new home.

The pilot had to make an emergency landing along the way because the orphan’s heart stopped beating.

“After three minutes of resuscitation and trying everything to save him… everyone involved was amazed (some with tear-filled eyes) when he gasped for air and his little heart started up again!!” she posted.

Van der Merwe told News24 that they had received another rhino orphan from the park, estimated to be about six months old, on Sunday.

“His mother has also been poached. He drank a bit of milk on Sunday. Now we are struggling to get him to drink, so he is still being kept on a drip,” she said.

The latest orphan did not have a name because they were still looking for a sponsor who would help come up with one as well as provide other assistance.

Kruger National Park spokesperson William Mabasa said tourists alerted the park to Donnie’s situation.

“We got the mother’s carcass yesterday [Sunday],” he said, confirming she was a victim of poaching.

He confirmed that a second rhino calf was captured at Lower Sabie around midday on Sunday and taken to the sanctuary.

poor, poor, poor little ones

I always wonder if any of those baby rhinos will ever make it back to to the wild

Hope's sixth procedure
Date: 21/08/2015

Title: Visiting Shamwari to conduct Hope's latest procedure

Summary: We attended Shamwari game reserve to perform Hope's next procedure. The plan was to reassess, rebandage and apply a new protective shield to her poaching wound. She was also being transferred to her new Medivet enclosure. Dr Gerhard Steenkamp from Saving the Survivors was the lead veterinary surgeon.

History: On 30th April this year a four year old female white rhino was savagely attacked for her horn by poachers on Lombardini game reserve and left for dead. She was missing for four days before being found in a terible state. Her face had been hacked open and her bones exposed and fractured. She would have been in excruciating pain. She was stabilised by a veterinary team before being transferred to Shamwari game reserve where expert wildlife vets assessed her condition and agreed her life could be saved. They performed surgery on 18th May cleaning up her wound and removing maggots in the process. An artificial cast was then placed over the wound to protect it. She is now being observed and cared for by the staff at the reserve and the Saving the Survivors vet team visit regularly to assess her condition, clean her wound and apply a new protective shield.

Comment: Hope was darted in her old enclosure and allowed to go down before we went in to work with her. Due to recent bad weather, it was quite muddy where she went down so we decided to walk her into her new enclosure which had a roofed area where we could work in the dry. A blindfold and ear plugs were applied as well as guide ropes. Her anaesthetic was lightened enough so she could stand and we guided her gently using the ropes towards her new enclosure. Once she was in the correct area, we deepened her anaesthetic again which allowed us to work on her. Once again, Hope had managed to remove her shield a week prior to the procedure. The wound had dried out substantially but otherwise looked quite good. The wound was cleaned thoroughly and all the dry tissue removed to reveal the fresh granulation tissue underneath. Local anaesthetic injections were applied all around the wound to numb the area and reduce immediate post operative pain. F10 (a disinfectant) and a honey based wound cream were applied to the wound before placing the new shield over. This time we were trying a shield made of elephant hide which is still strong but also supple. It had been successfully used by saving the survivors on other poaching vicitims recently. The hide was secured in place by suturing it to the surrounding tissues. As with her previous surgeries, Hope's position was regularly altered to ensure blood flow to her limbs. She also recieved preventative treatments (long acting antibiotics and multivitamins) as well as an antiparasitic to help prevent maggots in the wound and pain relief. Once the procedure was completed, all the team left her enclosure and her anaesthetic was reversed intravenously. Slowly she rose to her feet and wandered out to explore her new enclosure.

Conclusion: Everytime we work with Hope, she astounds us with her bravery and determination. Thankfully this time her anaesthetic was much more stable than her last procedure and she came through the procedure well. Whilst she continues to show us that she wants to live, we will continue to fight for her and find ways to help heal the wound made through the brutality that is the poaching crisis.
Once again without the support of those around us we could not do what we do. An immense thank you to the Wilderness Foundation and Medivet via the Wilderness Foundation Medivet rhino project for Hope's new enclosure in which she can now enjoy greater freedom. And of course a big thank you to Saving the Survivors for all the work they are doing to help Hope recover.

This veterinary team is really obstinated Incredible what the poor animal has been going through, but she still resists Sometimes it makes you wonder if they are more intelligent than what we give them credit for or is it just survival instinct

Christmas babies at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary!

Can i take one home please