At the end of last month we shared the story of Don English, an orphaned white rhino who was found next to a tourist’s car in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, the assumption being that the car’s grey colouring was somehow familiar and comforting for the orphan. Our team here at Rhino Africa has since adopted little Don, who is being cared for at a rhino sanctuary called Care for Wild AFRICA.
We recently chatted to Edyta Wozna, who is one of Don’s specialist caregivers at Care for Wild. Edyta, originally from Poland, has been working at the sanctuary for just under a year and was on base the day Don was flown in on a military helicopter.
What can you remember from the day that Don arrived at the sanctuary?
No one knows exactly how long Don had been without his mother. We know that his mother was poached, and we know that he was suffering from extreme stress and anxiety when he was found, so much so that his heart stopped in the helicopter as he was being transferred to our sanctuary. I don’t know how, but the vet managed to bring Don back to life. He was a fighter from the very beginning.
What is the process for the team at the sanctuary when a new orphan arrives?
Rhinos are highly sensitive animals and – as you can imagine – rhinos arriving at our sanctuary have just been through an ordeal that pushes them to their limits. Not only do they witness the brutal killing of their mother, but they are then left to fend for themselves in the wild until they are found, which can be many days. We have one rhino, her name is Winter, who lost her ears to hyenas in the days after her mother was killed. It’s also worth bearing in mind that young orphaned rhinos still in the wild no longer have access to their mother’s milk and – starving – are forced to eat grass, which can cause life-threatening stomach implications. Then, after all of this, there is the process of darting the animal and transferring it in a helicopter to a completely new environment.
So when the baby rhinos arrive, apart from any serious injuries that they might have, they are undernourished and highly stressed. We keep them sedated while we set them up in a small container, insert a drip line for fluids and medication, and then ensure, to reduce the stress, we insert earplugs and a blindfold. Rhinos are particularly susceptible to gastric ulcers, especially from stress, so the number one priority is to stabilise the animal, reduce stress and start to reduce the symptoms of dehydration.
How long does the rhino stay in the small container?
It’s normally two to four days. The founder of our sanctuary, Petronel Nieuwoudt, slowly starts working with the rhino’s senses: she touches the rhino, gently talks to it, lets it get used to her smell. We then – as with Don – introduce the orphan into our smallest boma where we keep our youngest animals. Don was introduced a few days after he arrived – he was estimated to be two months when he arrived – and he was so excited to see Warren, who is another of our little orphans. It was almost like he was saying “yay, there are others here!”
Who looked after Don in those first few nights in the boma?
We have a large team working around the clock at the sanctuary working with all 25 of our rhinos. There is a little night pen located just off the boma, and that is where Don slept at night. During the first few nights, either myself or one of the other caregivers would sleep in a sleeping bag next to Don, just to keep an eye on him. You make sure you take a towel as well – it can be very wet when you wake up in the night being peed on!
And was Don okay once he was released into the boma?
He was just so happy to see other rhinos. He now shares his boma with Warren and Oz, who both have similar stories to him. Rhinos are incredibly sociable – so the sooner we can get an orphan integrated, the better. He did have a little bit of diarrhea, which you have to keep a close eye on – dehydration can very quickly escalate into a life-threatening situation. He is a champion. Qualified wildlife vets are often at the sanctuary monitoring our animals. Touch wood, after that moment in the helicopter when we thought we were going to lose him there have been no major problems.
Look out for part two of this interview in which Edyta shares some of Don’s beautiful character traits and walks us through his daily routine at Care for Wild sanctuary. For regular updates you can also follow Don’s Facebook account.
Are you interested in adopting an orphaned rhino?
There are ten more rhinos at the Care for Wild sanctuary that need your help – they are looking to be adopted. The cost is $1100 per month, covering all maintenance costs relating to food, shelter and medication as well as state-of-the-art security. For more information, contact us here.
