Just over a decade after a five-month-old rhino calf was rescued from alongside her slain mother’s body, she has become a mother herself.

Petronel Nieuwoudt of the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary in Mpumalanga says Timbi was rescued from the Timbavati Private Game Reserve in the Greater Kruger National Park after rangers discovered her next to her mother’s mutilated carcass in September 2012.

Pilot Ben Osmers and Ertjies Rohm were at the nearby Manyeleti Game Reserve when the call about Timbi came in. They responded and after Timbi was darted, she was flown by helicopter to the ground support team waiting at Manyeleti. From there, she was driven by veterinarian Dr Ferreira du Plessis in a University of Pretoria vehicle to a filling station where Nieuwoudt met the pair in the pouring rain. Timbi was transferred to a purpose-built travelling crate before she continued her journey to the rhino sanctuary.

At Care for Wild, Timbi received love and attention and grew from a milk-drinking calf into the almost 2t grass-eating marvel she is today.

Raising a rhino

The Care for Wild team says orphaned rhinos must be introduced to other rhinos as soon as possible, so they can form emotional bonds. Timbi did just that and developed close friendships with fellow orphans Olive, Lunar, Storm, Forrest and Hawk. Being the largest of her group, she became very protective of them.

The group was released into a protected area in 2016.

On December 8, Timbi became the fifth rhino from her group to give birth. Despite her calf being in a breech position, an exhausted Timbi delivered a healthy rhino bull just after 17:00, much to the joy of her rescuers.

That another rhino has been welcomed into the world is thanks to the people involved in Timbi’s rescue, rehabilitation and ongoing protection. The absence of good wishes from one of the rescuers, Osmers, was deeply felt – he died in a helicopter crash in 2016.

Watch the video of Timbi giving birth here: 

Since the sanctuary was established a decade ago, it has housed 107 rescued rhinos.

Nieuwoudt says it costs around R200 000 to raise an orphaned rhino until it is weaned. After that, the costs of feeding and protection are ongoing.

Care for Wild has an extensive security network to protect its growing rhino population. The sanctuary has a double electrified fencing system that is patrolled 24/7. Cameras, thermal imaging and drones are used to assist in patrolling and the identification of possible threats. Armed guards, known as Rhino Monitors, patrol and protect the rhinos that are in the rehabilitation programme and those that have been released into the protected area. Care for Wild also receives support from K9 and mounted units.

To become involved, visit the sanctuary’s website www.careforwild.co.za or follow them on social media.