Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary has welcomed the 21st calf born to one of their rescued and rehabilitated rhino orphans!
Mpumalanga, South Africa (08 January 2025) — It’s been a busy start to the year for the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary team. After a rescue-themed New Year’s Day and Eve, where two new rhinos were brought into the fold following tragic incidents of poaching that took their mothers’ lives, some very good news came along for the team—the birth of the 21st calf born at the sanctuary.
For the team, the new calf’s birth was a “glimmer of hope and light” amid recent events. Anytime a rhino calf is born to a mother at the sanctuary, it’s a reminder that all the work the team does isn’t just for one rhino’s life but for an entire lineage.
The little calf’s mother, Venus, was rescued and rehabilitated over 10 years ago after losing her own mom to poachers. She was found with severe injuries to her foot, which meant her rehabilitation was going to be an intensive road. But Care for Wild’s Petronel, alongside other team members and rhino friends, worked tirelessly to ensure her recovery.
Now, Mama Venus gets to enjoy being the mother she never had.
“Venus is transitioning beautifully into motherhood,” the team shared. “An incredible sight to behold when you remember that Venus lost her own mother to poachers when she was very small.”
The 21st calf born at Care for Wild is a little female who joined the world at the Intensive Protection Zone of the sanctuary.
As for the two New Year’s rescues, both have thankfully left ICU care and have been introduced to mother figure Diana the rhino (who has five orphans to keep an eye on) and other rescued calves from the previous year. As they begin socialising, hopes are high for the pair’s future.
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