An unexpected gift made her way to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre on Christmas Eve. Aptly named after the night she arrived, Eve, the little rhino, has come a long way in a short time, making lots of progress and new friends in her second home.
Hoedspruit, South Africa (04 February 2025) — While many of us were staring curiously at the gifts under our Christmas trees or daydreaming about all the delicious meals we’d feast on come Christmas Day, the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) spent their Christmas Eve making preparations for quite a precious gift—A little rhino who needed their help.
The six-month-old calf, later named ‘Eve’ after the night she arrived, was taken in by HESC due to unfortunate circumstances.
Little Eve had seemingly been left stranded with no sign of her mother in sight. After a lot of searching for her mom proved unsuccessful and an ordeal in which the calf was chased by a rhino bull (whose territory she had accidentally found herself in) occurred, it was decided that Eve must join HESC for her own safety and survival.
After some time in the quarantine boma, calming meds and attempts to feed a tired and traumatised little Eve, the rhino girl started to warm up to her new home and carers.
With milk bottle feeds needing to happen 5 times a day, it was imperative that Eve learn to trust. To help with this and her socialisation, a new friend was brought into the mix—Angie.
Angie, another rhino and the smallest of the crash, had not yet bonded with any one rhino making her a good candidate to become a companion for Eve and Eve for her.
The process of their friendship was slow but steady and soon progressed from the two being separated by a mattress to walking around the boma together, enjoying morning feeds and, as of recently, taking their first mud bath together—any rhino’s favourite activity.
While Eve is not believed to have lost her mother to poachers, a rhino calf left stranded for whatever reason requires urgent intervention.
Eve still has a long road ahead, but she is on a far better trajectory now than she would’ve been on her own!
You can make a donation towards Eve’s care, here.