A big win for orphaned rhinos in SA came after people from all over, ensured a health scare wouldn’t have the last word. Together, people gave what they could to secure life-saving vaccine support for rhinos big and tiny.
South Africa (21 August, 2023) — Thanks to the family they never knew was waiting in the wings to help, orphaned rhinos were engulfed in support after a health scare emerged.
Earlier this month, the Rhino Orphanage shared word of reports that ‘unusual disease cases’ (like—Clostridial myositis) had hopped onto their radar and were too close not to worry about. The reports were especially red flag worthy as Clostridial myositis can be fatal to rhinos in a matter of hours.
Wanting to protect the orphaned rhinos that the team rescued and raised, the situation was flagged as an emergency that placed a heavy financial weight on its veterinary budget. The costs of certain streams of medical care (like vaccines) also require helicopter fly-ins for rhinos in different areas, making matters more financially complex.
Reaching out to friends and now, family of the Rhino Orphanage, the team asked for help to make the vaccine mission possible.
Time was of the essence, as a booster had to be administered four weeks after the vaccination.
But, luckily for the teams at the orphaned baby rhinos, they had a whole crash of people ready to support them—a family they never knew was waiting in the wings to help.
Exceeding their initial goal of $4500 (around R85 779), $5277 (roughly R100 590) was raised!
Thanks to these efforts, almost all of the rhinos have been vaccinated, and recent rescues like Baby Mpho will get to continue raising riot.
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