** New Arrival **
The Rhino911 team had gone out to a game reserve on Thursday to do work and were shocked to their core to find three female rhino killed by poachers. And with them a an orphaned rhino calf. The little boy named David was fetched by our team and is now safely in our care since early hours of Friday morning. David is still getting over the effects of tranquilizers and his tiring ordeal of the last two days, but he is stable and has no visible injuries.
The next couple of days are crucial and we wait in anticipation for urine and feces in order to asses his GI health, watching closely for signs of ulcers, sand colic and gut problems as the little boy had small stones and sand grains in his mouth on arrival, as well as tiny sores on his tongue.
It was a very rough second night with this baby, calling non-stop, pacing relentlessly and refusing any form of milk or electrolytes. We decided to remove his blindfold before he is on milk, to see if he would be calmer. Luckily by mid-morning yesterday he calmed down a little and had water and a little dry food. We can’t enter his room but our carers are sleeping outside his door to monitor and comfort him. We will introduce him to a new friend on Sunday.
*18 November 2018 – Update*
Little David had another rough night, calling and pacing but we are happy to report that today things are MUCH better ❤ David has been introduced to Davide, who came to the orphanage in July. Things were a little wobbly initially but the two managed to sort their differences and took a wallow together and slept in the shade side by side. And little David surprised the carers with his reaction to them..not a single moment of aggression towards and immediately responding to their “rhino calls” 💞
But the Best News of the day is that little David took his first bottle of milk this afternoon!!! Much to the relief of everyone at the orphanage. And in the three days that he has been here the little rhino bum earned himself a nickname….but more about that in the next update
*20 November 2018 – Update*
Little David had a much better night and is drinking like a champ 🏆 and following his new wing man Davide everywhere. He passed rock hard and very black feces suggesting gastric ulcers and severe dehydration (in the days after mom was poached). We also found tiny ulcers in his mouth. These ulcers in the mouth and stomach are stress related and we are treating accordingly under our amazing vet Dr Pierre Bester’s instructions. Getting David to drink was a bit of a mission as you will see in the video below (turn up the volume). This process of kicking our carer’s hand away led to him earning his nickname. Can you guess what it is?? ⚽