Orphaned Rhinos Find Safe Refuge In South African Sanctuary

Calves stay at the orphanage until the age of five, when they are deemed strong enough to defend themselves from predators Michele Spatari.

Today the orphanage is home to a number of rhino calves. Most are of the square-lipped species, also known as white rhino, but some of the rarer critically endangered black rhino are also housed there. Four staff and two volunteers, all women, work around the clock to nurse the rhinos, sometimes even sleeping next to the youngest calves in an open faced barn. "We're their mothers," said manager Yolande Van Der Merwe, 38. "They sleep very close for warmth and comfort. "Someone brings (us) food, or if we want to take a dinner or a bathroom break someone comes to stay with them," she told AFP. "As soon as they are left alone they start screaming." Their cries are high-pitched, something like the sound of a dolphin, according to Van Deventer. https://www.barrons.com/articles/orphaned-rhinos-find-safe-refuge-in-s-africa-sanctuary-01610372109?tesla=y