JOHANNESBURG -  The orphanage is also where the first baby rhino was rehabilitated after suffering medical complications recently.

The rhino, who cannot be named because it would indicate the area in which he was found and identify a hot- spot for poachers, is five months  old.

He was in a critical condition when he was found and brought back to the orphanage three weeks into May, said rehabilitation expert Karen Trendler.

“He was in a very weak condition. He was not going to survive.”

But with 24-hour attention from care givers, the baby rhino was nursed back to health.

Situated at the Legend Golf and Safari Resort, the orphanage would also   house rhinos whose mothers were killed by poachers.

They would be transported to the orphanage via helicopters or bakkies.

It is a challenge to find   the calves because they often run away, or don’t want to leave their dead mothers, said Trendler.
“They are also left traumatised and dehydrated.”

The idea would be to train dogs to track the calves who are lost following poaching incidents, she said.