By Yolanda du Toit
In 2012, Arrie van Deventer received an urgent phone call from a neighbour about a rhino calf that was left orphaned after poachers shot the mother, and his whole life changed.
This was the beginning of the world’s first rhino orphanage.
Arrie has always had a love for nature, the bushveld, and nature conservation. After rescuing the first orphaned calf, The Rhino Orphanage, a registered NPO, opened in the bushveld of the Limpopo province. This is the first dedicated rhino orphanage and the first of its kind in the world. Wildlife rescue in South Africa is essential for preventing the extinction of endangered species – especially our treasured rhinos.
They have a specialised centre with the sole purpose of providing a safe place where injured and orphaned baby rhinos can be healed, hand-reared, rehabilitated, and released back into their natural habitat.
One of its latest orphans, Tshepi, is charming people with heartwarming posts on Facebook. The team received an urgent phone call on the 22nd of April from the manager of a reserve. There was a barely 24-hour-old calf in dire need of help. The reserves’ anti-poaching team stayed with her throughout the night, but despite her desperate cries for her mother, she didn’t return. It was very cold, and with rain forecasts, they decided to take her to the centre. Arrie said, “Such a young calf will not survive without food for 24 hours. It was such a special experience when we first saw her. There was movement in the grass, and she started following the anti-poaching unit member. It was a very emotional moment for our team.”
She was immediately taken into safety and examined by a veterinarian. The suspicion is that she was born a few days prematurely and did not receive the first essential milk from her mother. She had a plasma transfusion to build her immunity. She was named Tshepi, which means ‘I trust in you’ in Setswana.
Right from the start, she had a good appetite, slept a lot, and took a while to settle into her new life. “She was traumatized, but after a few days and after meeting other animal friends, she started playing. She now weighs 72 kg and drinks 9 litres of milk per day. She has doubled in weight and, in all honesty, we can say in personality too. She is really doing great.”
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