Little Mpho is settling in well at the Rhino Orphanage, she has had a plasma transfusion and loves spending her days playing outside in the sunshine.
Undisclosed Location, South Africa (21 June 2023) – News broke last week, on the 12th of June 2023, that an orphaned rhino named Mpho, just a few days old, had been found and was in transit to The Rhino Orphanage. According to the team, she was found on a private game reserve and a search was underway for her mother. Now she has settled in at the orphanage and her personality is shining through.
She had been found following a Rhino cow and an older calf but it was clear to the rangers that something wasn’t right. The young calf’s mother was nowhere in sight. There is still no news on Mom, which is quite worrying!
The rangers managed to get her to the orphanage and give her much-needed colostrum and electrolytes. She willingly took the bottle as she was severely dehydrated. She was estimated at just a few days old because her feet are still soft and her umbilical cord was still attached. They got her onto a drip to speed up her rehydration and she has since done really well. The next day, the team from her reserve named her Mpho which means “Gift” in Setswana.
Once the icy weather settled down, Mpho was allowed to go play outside. She has started showing her little personality and it is evident she does love a bit of fun.
“Our tiniest, little girl went outside for the first time yesterday and loved it. It was a lovely warm day and Mpho was allowed to run around without her blankies on. She follows her new mommies everywhere and quickly found a sunny spot to take a nap. She has passed some faeces, no sand detected so far. Her faeces contained meconium, just a gentle reminder of the fact that she is newborn.
As a compromised neonate, the risks to Mpho are plentiful, and our team is taking the necessary precautions to try and keep the little lady in good health.” – The Rhino Orphanage
The vets decided that because they couldn’t tell if Mpho had her vital intake of colostrum, they decided she needed to have a plasma transfusion to help keep her immune system strong.
“Infection is a huge threat to very young calves and we have to do everything in our power to ensure her survival. It looks like she is doing very well and getting stronger but we are not yet out of the woods. Her new moms are taking her vitals frequently and monitoring carefully for fever, colic, hypoglycemia, changes in behaviour and the like.”
The plasma transfusion was a success, the entire procedure took around 27 minutes and she was given 300ml of plasma. She didn’t have any adverse effects and so all is well.
At the moment, The Rhino Orphanage is updating about her daily so if you would like to stay up-to-date, you can follow along on Facebook here.
Take a look at Mpho running around outside before her transfusion.