Big Rhinos Need Big Hearts Too

The rehabilitation of rhinos injured and orphaned in poaching incidents remains a priority at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre and is a task of love that is performed despite the hardships of the current worldwide Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant disastrous effect on tourism due to travel restrictions. The generous support received via GlobalGiving and individual supporters from around the globe has enabled HESC to continue with this work.

The ethos behind all our conservation programmes is to release rehabilitated animals back into the wild to sustain the species and in the past two years alone, since December 2018, we have released ten white rhinos. While details and current locations are not divulged, we regularly receive feedback on the rhinos and can confirm that all have adjusted well and are happy and content in their new homes in the wild.

A recent photograph of Stompie and Balu, released in October 2020, show the two are still very close and clearly happy in their new environment. Nhlanhla released in December 2020 has had the good fortune of teaming up with a young cow and the two seem inseparable. Although Nhlanhla and his new friend are free in the wild, for the sake of safety they sleep in a Boma.

Three rhinos remain in our care as they are not yet old enough to be released.

Much loved Esmé is still the favourite (although Lula and Khulula are equally loved) and is mostly in the company of her best friend Anatolian shepherd David and Mielie the Thaba Manzi Pedi sheep. The close friendship of the three different species never ceases to amaze and delights all who see them. Esmé who came to us in 2017 when she was just one month old when her mother couldn’t provide sufficient milk to sustain her, is now strong and beautiful and a fine example of one of the icons of our South African wildlife heritage.

Lula and Khulula came to us as they were orphaned when their mothers were butchered in poaching incidents. Lula was barely four months old and Khulula around five months; both were terrified and traumatised but today the two are content, happy and still with us.

We are hugely grateful for the financial support that has enabled us to rehabilitate and care for each and every rhino that has crossed our path. Funding received covers, besides maintaining the enclosures of the rhinos, also veterinary care, security, staff salaries and animal food. For a period of three months, 300 bales of lucerne costs close on R100 000. As our dogs are an important aspect of our security system, their food, training and veterinary costs are also covered by GlobalGiving funding.

While the rehabilitation of rhinos is our passion, we could never do it without the support of benevolent sponsors. We aim to continue with this task to contribute to the conservation of a species that can never be allowed to disappear off the face of our planet.

To our wonderful donors! 

We are so proud to announce in our HESC October report that Stompie and Balu, two orphaned white rhinos rehabilitated at our Centre have recently been released into the wild into an approved and protected reserve. In all, HESC has successfully rehabilitated 13 rhinos of which nine have been released back into the wild.

The two rhinos Stompie and Balu spent close on five years at HESC. Stompie came to HESC as the victim of a brutal poaching incident in which his mother was killed for her horn when he was only eight months old. When the little guy was found next to his dying mother, all but dead himself, his tail had been bitten off and his rectum chewed by presumably a hyena. Numerous treatments saved his life and restored his dignity.

Balu was brought to HESC bewildered and terrified when he was only two weeks old and weighing around 50 kg. He was not a poaching victim but had lost his mother in a hailstorm. About seven months younger than Stompie, the two soon became best mates and inseparable. Their favourite pastime was taking mud baths together.

Despite the traumatic events of their youth, Stompie and Balu are now free to live their lives as triumphant survivors and HESC is thankful for the privilege it had of accompanying them on their road to recovery and adulthood.

Following the release of Stompie and Balu, HESC now has the capacity again of offering a home to other rhinos in need of rehabilitation and to this end has been upgrading and strengthening its facilities at the Centre. In addition to rehabilitating animals, HESC also educates and creates awareness in the community about the consequences of rhino poaching on ecosystems and their sustainability.

• For security reasons details of the release and the current destination are limited. However, regular feedback will be provided on how the released animals are adapting in their new environment. Initial reports indicate that they are doing well.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported our Stompie and Balu's journey, as well as ours. 

Please continue supporting us where you can, 2020 has been an incredibly difficult year. A big portion of HESC's income is from visitors, which was not possible for the majority of this year, and sadly, our main source market visitors are still not allowed to travel to South Africa. If you can assist in any way, we will be so grateful. 

All the best for the last few months of the year. 

From your HESC Team