*** NEW ARRIVAL ***
On Wednesday the 25th of November we received a call from Pilanesberg National Park advising that they had an orphaned female black rhino calf about 16-18 months of age who had lost her mother to poachers. The Rhino Orphanage team responded quickly to collect ‘Cornelia’ and we are pleased to report she is in good health and settling in well.
After a few days of allowing Cornelia to settle in to her new environment and neighboring rhinos, we introduced her to our other black rhino, Shake and his white rhino companion, Nyani. They are still getting to know each other at this stage but so far are showing signs of a blossoming friendship. We even caught them having a nap together this morning!
We will keep you updated as her journey continues.
3 December 2015 – Update
Cornelia is still going strong and settling into her new environment. She spends most of her day with Nyani and Shaka and is slowly starting to accept our presence which aids in minimising stress while the staff provide them with food and water.
At the moment we are keeping Cornelia in a boma with Nyani and Shaka to ensure that they bond well before giving them access to a bigger area. This also helps Cornelia adjust to the process and will encourage her to also try the supplemental food that we provide all of our rhinos with. She is eating a lot of the browse variety we provide her with and we have observed her eat a small amount of lucerne hay but we would still like to see her eat a little bit more of it. Which hopefully won’t take long with her new friends showing her the way!
Sights like this make us so happy that Cornelia is finding comfort in her new companions after going through the horrible trauma of losing her mother.