Solio

Before I went to South Africa I did a ton of research into the illegal ivory trade, and I still try to keep up to date on what's going on. But my interest had solely been focused on the elephant ivory trade, since I love elephants and hate the thought that they're being killed just for their teeth. But I never really focused that much on the rhino ivory trade, just because I didn't like rhinos as much I guess.

That all changed after two days working with rhinos in an active conservation effort. You can't spend all that time with rhinos and not appreciate them. I see rhinos in a completely different light now- their speed and power is unbelievable, and they are just magnificent creatures. And while in South Africa I learned some very alarming facts, including that rhinos are being poached at a rate of about 75 a week. 75 rhinos a week getting their face hacked off for what is essentially fingernails. 75 rhinos a week... that's nearly 4,000 rhinos a year. There are an estimated 20,000 rhinos left in South Africa, so at that rate the rhino could be extinct in as little as 5 years, if something isn't done to stop the trend.

I'm more interested in the ivory trade and conservation efforts than ever before. There seems to be promising signs- governments are taking more active roles, for example- but the black market ivory trade is like a chronic disease that is going to take a long time to fix, and it's going to take even more time for the populations to bounce back. There are a lot of people who are making small changes every day trying to help halt the disease spread, and that's what I want to be a part of.

I always admired the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the work they do for conservation; I still foster two elephant orphans with them, who are both doing well. The trust is always looking for injured or abandoned orphans to take in and raise to be able to release back into the wild. They mainly take in elephant orphans, but occasionally they get called out for a rhino, too.

I believe that currently they have two rhino orphans, Solio and Maxwell. It takes a lot to care for a rhino orphan. This description of duties is directly from their website, http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org.

"When rearing rhino orphans, it is important to:

1. Replace the Mother Figure with several Keepers, so that the baby will follow more than one person and will not be reliant on just one, which will lead to problems should that person have time off.
2. Protect the calf at night for the first three years, initially in a small stable, and later on in a spacious Stockade. Place an article of the Keeper's clothing in with the calf so that the familiar scent is there.
3. Bottle feed a small calf four hourly throughout the day, but not at night, the last milk feed being at 6 p.m. When the calf is older and beginning to nibble on vegetation, anchor suitable cut greens within the stable at night and also offer a bowl of bran in which minerals are mixed as further supplementation.
4. Walk a calf around dungpiles and urinals of the established wild community on a daily basis from dawn until dusk giving it time to investigate scent trails and contribute to the dungpiles. Allow it to eat the dung of the other animals (which all rhinos do) and which establishes the stomach bacteria needed.
5. Take the calf to water and a mudwallow on a hot day so that it can drink and then lie and roll in the mud. Plaster the body in soft mud, which seals moisture in the skin, protects the animal from biting insects and sun. Mud is part of good skin care in all animals that do not have fur.
6. Move a growing calf into a spacious Stockade at night once it has outgrown its Nursery quarters, because large animals become claustrophobic if confined too closely. Be sure to take its dung and establish a dungpile within the new quarters and also have a Keeper handy to calm the animal. Rhinos are creatures of habit and routine, and any break in the daily routine or happening is traumatic.
7. When the calf is 3 or 4 years old, the Stockade doors can be left open at night, so that the calf can venture out and make physical contact with the other rhinos if it so wishes, but it is important that it can return to something familiar ("Home Base") whenever it feels the need to do so. By then, it will no longer be dependent on its Keepers, but will always respond to them. For instance, when Scud, as an adult, returned home injured, only her erstwhile Nursery Attendants could handle her.

N.B. Little rhinos are very playful, but must learn the boundaries of acceptable playfulness around humans. Therefore, discipline must be meted out in early infancy whilst a calf is small, initially with a sharp tone of voice and then the word "NO", and if necessary it can be reinforced by a prod on the nose from a small electric Cattle Prod powered by two torch cells. Rhinos are very easy to discipline, and are not normally disobedient in the same way as are elephants, so the electric prodder will only have to be used probably once or twice. However, whenever a rhino begins to gallop around playfully and becomes excited, it is a good idea to keep well out of the way!"

It takes a lot of patience and dedication to bring up an orphaned animal. If I had the time, space and money I would love to adopt them all and do something similar myself. Since I can't, I still like to do what I can. Which is why in addition to Quanza and Kanjoro, I now foster Solio. Solio was found standing over her mother, who had a shattered shoulder and was unable to stand or protect her calf. It's not clear if the injury was from a poaching attempt or not, but it would not be unheard of it it were. Some rhinos do manage to survive the immediate poaching attack, only to die of their wounds later. So Solio was brought to the orphanage when she was somewhere between 6 months old to a year old in 2010, and she's been there ever since. This month is her 3 year anniversary being at the orphanage, and she seems to be doing very well. She comes and goes from her stockade as she wishes, which is the beginning of the re-introduction process to the wild. She has her own space at the stockade, and she comes to eat and visit the other rhino, Maxwell, every couple of days or so. This July she was gone for a week before returning to the stockade, which the Keepers took as a good sign that she has been able to establish her own territory and that she is being accepted by the other wild rhinos. This is a great step towards her reintegration back into a wild life. 

When Solio first came to the orphanage, she was very feisty, and the keepers couldn't get near her to bottle feed her. That has changed as they earned her trust with their compassion and constant care.

Solio today