What does a baby rhino orphan living her best life look like? Like Tshepi.
Limpopo, South Africa (29 May 2026) – The most wholesome thing you’ll see this week comes out of Limpopo, from The Rhino Orphanage – a centre dedicated to rescuing, raising and rewilding orphaned rhinos.
Tshepi, who is just little over a month old, joined the orphanage after being abandoned by her mother.
“When our team arrived at the area where Tshepi was left abandoned by her mother, we waited with the conservation manager for the vet and APU team. Standing at the edge of an open grassland, we saw movement in the tree-line. From the trees emerged one of the APU members that watched over Tshepi throughout the night waiting for the mothers’ return, and behind him, following as best she could, was the little wild born rhino.” shares the rhino orphanage. “It was one of the most beautiful and emotional moments in our 14 years of operation. This desperate little girl had put all her trust in him.”
In the month since, Tshepi, whose name derives from the Setswana meaning of ‘I trust in you’, has been finding her feet. She’s healthy and adjusting to life after the trauma of being left behind.
Her favourite things are zoomies, comfortable snoozes, and adventuring outdoors. She’s already joined a gang of unlikely wild friends, and she’s lapping up the attention of her carers.
A video posted by the centre this week shows Tshepi enjoying a mud bath given by her carers. Still too young to wallow on her own, she’s taking full advantage of the spa days.
Look at the cheeky tongue!
“When the winter sun is nice and warm, baby rhinos get a mudbath to help with dry skin. Very young rhinos like our little girl Tshepi dont always get wallowing right the first time, so our carers will lend a helping hand. We think she loved it.” shared The Rhino Orphanage.
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