Ellie the eland calf arrived at the Rhino Orphanage shortly after being born via emergency surgery, she is settling in well and bringing a new kind of joy to the team.
Undisclosed Location, South Africa (17 July 2023) – The Rhino Orphanage has had several rhino neonates arrive at the orphanage in the last few weeks and now the most recent neonate is an eland calf. The eland mother had a painful wound that made giving birth slow and painful so a vet had to do an emergency surgery to get the eland calf out. The wound also presented an issue with feeding, so she was taken in by the orphanage which has experience in raising young animals.
Thankfully, the vet, Dr Pierre Bester, who performed the emergency surgery, was able to collect the mom’s colostrum so that the calf could have its life-saving first milk.
“The nutrient-dense colostrum (the very first milk any mammal produces) is vital to survival of newborns as it provides anti-bodies and anti-oxidants to the calf.”
With those much-needed elements consumed, the team got the calf settled in and comfortable. She was named Ellie and has been an added joy to the growing neonate nursery at the orphanage.
As it has been so cold, Ellie has been sleeping underneath the warm lamps and even got her very own blanket from the knitters at Blankets for Rhino Babies.
They are looking forward to sharing updates about Ellie so be sure to follow them on Facebook for when those updates go live. Ellie will grow into a big girl, weighing between 300 and 600 kg.
Update: Sadly, Ellie passed away. The Rhino Orphanage shared a statement with the public, sharing their heartbreak and sadness.
“It is with shock and sadness, that our Team has to announce that little Ellie, the Eland, passed away. Our vet has determined that Ellie developed enterotoxemia, an acute disease that often remains asymptomatic and kills newborn calves within a few hours.
According to dr Pierre, Ellie was, at only 12kg, which is less than half of the normal birthweight for Eland, probably born a few days premature, with a low immune system and on top of this her reticular groove was dysfunctional as well. (The reticular groove in ruminants normally channels milk into the abomasum so that it doesn’t flow into the rumen).
Ellie’s passing is another hard blow for our Team and we feel very heartbroken losing Mpho’s friend.”
Your messages of condolence can be sent here.
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