Arthur the brave

TonyP

New member
A new update on Arthur, the best news is that he now has a girlfriend and is out of the nursery enclosure.
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This month, Arthur has been healing incredibly well, both physically and emotionally.
During one of Arthur’s earlier procedures this month, Dr Albertus Coetzee and Dr Ferreira du Plessis, removed the cast that was protecting Arthur’s toe, and attached a small plate which was screwed into place, to keep the nail together as it heals and grows out. The procedures that have been carried out to treat and repair Arthur’s toe have been the first of its kind, and we are happy to report that they have shown amazing results.
The Care for Wild Team are regularly cleaning Arthur's wounds and are very cautious to prevent any infection.
U.S surgeon Dr Morin Hanson and his family visited Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary. Dr Hanson generously offered his skills as a surgeon to help with little Arthur’s wounds! He cleaned and assessed his back wound and redressed it to keep it clean and covered. We would like to thank Dr Hanson for his help and support with Arthur's wounds.
Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary would also like to thank Amanda from Umsinsi healthcare for sending us much needed medical supplies specific for Arthur's wound, as well as her support during Arthur’s recovery! Thanks also to all of Arthur’s supporters for the well wishes and love for our miraculous little rhino bull!
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Arthur has also spent this month getting to know his new best friend, Summer, who has been a very tender and loving support to little Arthur. The two orphaned rhinos have been spending the day together outside exploring the reserve and enjoying the sunshine! Both Arthur and Summer light up when it is time to go out, and Summer has been showing Arthur all her favorite places to graze!

Some other news from Care for Wild

TEXAS A&M
Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary had the pleasure of hosting a group of students from Texas A&M University. The students major in wildlife and other environmental studies. We are proud to have had the opportunity to share some of our knowledge, passion and love of rhinos with these young ambassadors.
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ARRIVAL OF FERN

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At Midday of the 22nd of June 2018 a rhino calf was spotted in the Marumbeni area in Kruger National Park. This calf in particular belonged to a female that had been poached back on the 11th of May 2018 which meant she had been walking in the bush for nearly 6 weeks. Veterinarian Dr Dewald Keet darted the calf at 15:28 and brought her to a holding pen at the Phalaborwa Gate. Two Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary staff members drove through the night to retrieve the orphaned young rhino calf.

Fern, as she is now known, arrived safely at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary at 04:15 the following day after a steady journey back through the Kruger National Park. Often being used to symbolize peace and new beginnings, fern plants are used for healing, which is why it is a fitting name for this 11-month-old rhino calf.

Fern had suffered from numerous wounds. Hyena’s and lions had attacked her multiple times, all over her body, including biting off half of her tail and leaving three of her legs with terrible bite wounds. Her back legs were especially wounded from trying to run away from the predators. She was extremely tired, fatigued and stressed from the long, lonely weeks she had spent fighting for her life with no mother at her side.

Fern spent her first day at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary, resting. By the end of the day, Fern stood up and showed she was ready to come out. Petronel Nieuwoudt, founder and owner of Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary, and her team prepared one of the enclosures for Fern, but there was a surprise waiting for her in the enclosure. When the Care for Wild Team released Fern into the boma enclosure, Fern was welcomed by two of the older orphaned rhinos, Leo and Faye. The meeting was very calm and loving. Fern was very curious to explore her new surroundings, but she was also interested in having rhino company, something she hasn’t felt in weeks. After the meet and greet, Fern laid down to take a nap.

When she awoke later that night, Petronel was waiting with a bottle of warm sweet milk. With the soothing and loving voice of Petronel, Fern felt comfortable and began to drink the milk from the bottle! She drank and drank, while care takers quickly made more and more milk for her to drink her fill. Six litres of milk later, Fern laid her head on Petronel’s lap and fell asleep like a baby.

A few days later, on the 29 June 2018, Fern was introduced to four other orphaned rhinos more her size and age. Khanya, Rose Petal, Rubybelle and Summer welcomed Fern into their crash with love. We are happy to say that Fern has now settled in well with her new family of rhinos, she is drinking warm, sweet milk regularly and grazing in the fields every day. Fern’s wounds are being monitored and tended to by her caretakers, daily, and her general spirit is lifting each day.

We would like to thank everyone involved for their love and support towards Fern and she moves forward into her beautiful future.
 
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Ddays

Hooked
Awesome thread here. Enjoying the updates of Art. :thumb:

While I fully support hunting as a sport, the idea of sport hunting and taking animals for outdated and unprovable 'medicinal' reasons is repulsive. Harvesting Bear paws, gorilla hands, etc is a total waste. What possible reason is there for taking a giraffe? :grayno:
 

TonyP

New member
You're welcome guys, nice to have a few responses, I wasn't sure if I should continue with the updates.
 

TonyP

New member
Awesome thread here. Enjoying the updates of Art. :thumb:

While I fully support hunting as a sport, the idea of sport hunting and taking animals for outdated and unprovable 'medicinal' reasons is repulsive. Harvesting Bear paws, gorilla hands, etc is a total waste. What possible reason is there for taking a giraffe? :grayno:

Ethical hunting is a form of conservation and I have no problem with it if it is above board, honest and well managed. Rhino horn is simply keratin, the exact same substance as our toe and finger nails and has been proven to be worthless from a medicinal point of view. So to kill a rhino for a bag of toe nails is totally ignorant, especially when one considers that there are only about 24,000 animals left in the world and we are losing at least 2000 per year to poaching in South Africa. To be totally honest with you, when I drive around the reserve, I sometimes wish that a poacher would step out of the bush, it would be the last step he takes.
In regards to Giraffe hunting, they are in reasonable abundance over here and sometimes need to be culled. Their meat makes excellent Biltong (similar to Jerky, but not smoked, just spiced and dried). I have never shot one, they are way too majestic for me, but I have tasted their meat.
 
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TonyP

New member
CARE FOR WILD RHINO SANCTUARY RECEIVES TWO ORPHANS IN ONE DAY

SOPHIA
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Sophia arrived at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary on the 16th August 2018 at around 11am. Sophia was rescued in the Lower Sabie area of the Kruger National Park after her mother was killed by poachers the night before. Sophia was flown in by helicopter with Kruger Park Veterinarian Dr Peter Buss and the pilot Grant Knight. Despite Sophia’s relatively short time without her mother (less than 24 hours), she was found and attacked by a cackle of hyenas which left her severely injured.

Sophia had deep and severe wounds on her face and her back legs, as well as her tail was chewed off, leaving only a very short stump. She must have been in a lot of pain and highly stressed from the traumas that she endured in the bush. Petronel, together with her staff and local veterinarians, cleaned and dressed Sophia’s wounds as regularly as possible. According to the blood tests that were done, Sophia’s prognosis looks positive.

Fortunately, Sophia took to the milk bottle quickly, ensuring she gets all the nutrition she needs to heal and grow strong.

Sophia has been steadily settling in and finding comfort in her new home at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary. Sophia now enjoys her time outside in her boma, soaking up the sun. When this princess gets hungry, she call for her caretakers to bring her room service in the form of a warm bottle of milk!

Despite Sophia’s bright future at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary, the road to recovery will be a long one.

KAYLA-MILAN
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Kayla-Milan arrived at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary on the 16 August 2018 at around 5pm after being rescued in the Malelane area of the Kruger National Park after her mother was killed by poachers the night before. Park Ranger, Don English, escorted the orphaned rhino to the safety of Care for Wild via helicopter, with the help of Park Veterinarian Dr Peter Buss and his Helicopter Pilot, Grant Knight.
Kayla-Milan was the second orphaned rhino that Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary received on the same day. Fortunately for Kayla-Milan, she did not sustain any injuries, unlike the other orphan, Sophia, who was severely injured by hyenas.
Kayla-Milan struggled with drinking milk from a bottle. Instead, for the first few days, she drank her milk from a silver platter, like the princess that she is. About 5 days after her arrival, Kayla-Milan finally took to the bottle and learnt to suckle very quickly. It’s only been a week since her arrival and Kayla-Milan is doing very well; she is on a regular milk schedule and has even enjoyed her mudbath a few times already! Soon she will be introduced to some of the other orphans at the sanctuary where she will become part of the crash and find her place within the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary family.


SUMMER AND ARTHUR GET AN UPGRADE
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Since the arrival of the two new orphans at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary, Summer and Arthur have moved out of the ICU boma and into another (much larger) boma at the main holding facility.

The pair of orphaned rhinos are thoroughly enjoying their new home. Their new home has a beautiful back yard with a large mango tree which is perfect for napping under when the African summer sun is blazing down. The boma is also comes with a cool, thick, mud wallow for those days when a spa treatment is needed. The lovely lawn makes for good grazing as well as running around playing "tag"!

Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters of Summer and Arthur for helping us make this transition possible for these two amazing orphans! They grow up so fast!
 

TonyP

New member
A big thank you to the guys on this forum who show interest in saving our endangered species from extinction. Here is a very brief up date on young Arthur.
It can only be described as awesome, and his recovery is all because of the people that care. This is not only the staff at Care for Wild, but the many people and companies that support what we do. Arthur's own tenacity played a massive part.

The machete wound which was caused by the poacher's attempt at severing his spine to stop him from trying to defend his mother whilst they hacked off her horn has completely healed. The poachers came very close to achieving their goal, a few more millimeters and Arthur would have died alongside his mother.
The second attempt at disabling this brave baby rhino was the chopping of his foot which cut his toenail in half didn't work on this guy. After a steel plate was used to join the two halves together, the nail has almost healed and it won't be long before the plate can be removed.

Suffice to say that we can confidently report that Arthur has won against many odds. From an emotional point of view, he shows no signs of the trauma he must have suffered and has become a fun-loving, shit stirring baby male rhino, the comedian of the whole sanctuary. A lot of thanks needs to go to his adopted sister Summer, who accepted him and shared her calm demeanor with him.
Arthur, when he grows up, will certainly become a dominant male in any group of rhino and from now on I am looking forward to see how this little guy develops in the future.

Here is a pic of the little guy enjoying his day, how gratifying is this?

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