Here is a good news story for early 2009 - lets hope baby Maalim continues to thrive =D>.

http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.or...file.asp?N=191

Enjoy,


Pol

How cute. Fantastic news. ( They have his date born as Dec 2009 though. I can't help spotting details like that. )

What's the good news... I see pics of a rhino calf draped in kids and sundry western attire... obviously no plan to put that chap back into the wild... sort of makes me feel quite nauseas really...Can we not stop trying to play God and tame our environment in the name of conservation?

mkhonzo … all the orphans at Sheldricks are destined to be returned to the wild. The only exception that I know of at present is the the blind rhino they are caring for and I don't know what they will do with him as they are still exploring options for his eye sight. Their previous rhino, Shida, is now independent in Nairobi National Park although he comes back to the bomas on a regular basis but this will slowly decrease.
As humans have been the cause of the orphaning of most of the elephants and rhinos, I don't see why humans can't be involved in caring for them. There are many hand raised elephants now in Tsavo East, integrated into the wild herds and raising their calves as wild calves.
The reason that rhino and elephant calves are draped in blankets (western attire!!) is because the altitude of Nairobi makes it quite cold especially for orphans from places like Tsavo.

What's the problem? The one child seen is, I believe, Dame Daphne's grandson. Where's the "sundry Western attire;" the only thing I see is the blanket used to cover the orphans to protect them from the sun.

They waited 24 hrs to see if the mother would return -- if they hadn't taken it then, the infant would have died. Should they just "let nature take its course?" The reintroduction program (into the wild) for rhinos is limited, as is the number of rhinos at the orphanage -- but why assume it won't happen?

Thanks for the explanation Twaffle to put this in conservation perspective.

Wow, Pol, thanks for the link.

Thanks for sharing, I love baby Rhino's.