Meet Trusty: rescued in the wilderness, thriving under human care

Musa Zimunya

WINDHOEK, OCT. 31 – Some six months ago, an orphaned baby rhino was spotted wandering alone in the wilderness. Albeit staying close to his mother’s decaying carcass, Trusty, as he is affectionately known by his caregivers, cut a desolate figure; severely dehydrated, a traumatised orphan, and desperately lingering close to his deceased mother, who had died at least two days prior.

Trusty was rescued by Namibia’s Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) team in April this year after the lone calf was spotted wandering alone.

At the time he was two and a half months, weighed a mere 170-kilograms and was immediately placed on a drip for twelve hours to rehydrate him and further placed on a regimen of bottle-feed every two hours.

As the APU was about to find out, hand-raising a young rhino calf is no easy task.

Juliette Erdtsieck of the Rhino Momma Project, is part of a small team hand-raising eight-and-half month old Trusty.

“Caring for a young rhino requires round-the-clock care and sleepless nights. Whether it is to ensure 24/7 supervision, sourcing milk, implementing a strict routine, carefully managing a stress-free environment, as rhino’s are highly sensitive, and sourcing the necessary funding, among several other crucial considerations, raising Trusty is no small feat.”

The acceptance of the formula milk marked one of many milestones, but still, there were further challenges that lay ahead.

“As we are in a remote location, one of the biggest challenges was sourcing milk formula quickly and establishing a long-term milk supply. Thankfully we have a lot of supporters with milk and other essentials donated from around the country.”

Namibia Diaries has so far assisted to the tune of 80,000 NAD; hand raising a rhino calf isn’t cheap – approximately 200 000 NAD for the first 18 months.

Trusty has consumed a whopping 4,115.55 litres of milk since his rescue, and now at eight and a half months, he consumes 30 litres a day during three feeds.

Donors have generously donated all the milk consumed to date, tonnes of glucose and many other essential items.

The successful rescue and rearing of a young rhino orphan in Namibia underscores the positive role humans can play in protecting threatened species and the valuable lessons to be gained when people step up and lend a helping hand.

“When you rescue an animal, it provides a unique opportunity to learn about its needs and behaviour from a very close range and this can help give insight in the way a species can be conserved in the wild,” said Erdtsieck.

Erdtsieck explained that the biggest lesson learnt so far from saving the orphaned rhino is that humans can play a large role in saving a species, when the correct knowledge is present.

Trusty’s rescue in April from a near certain death-sentence, following the death of his mother from natural causes, has injected a glimmer of hope into the usually grim narrative of the much persecuted rhino.

“Baby rhinos require milk for the first 16 – 18 months of their life. Just the stress and anxiety of being alone would already cause death. Fortunately, our little man wasn’t on his own for too long; thanks to our ever present and alert anti-poaching unit (APU) team,” she said.

Unusual alliances

Although his bond with the sheep took a while to cement, it was successful in the end, and they remain close.

The introduction of Jacob, a two-and-a-half year-old rhino, has provided Trusty with an same-species mentor, able to teach Trusty the ways of the rhino, a task even the most adept team of humans are unlikely to replicate as ably.

Trusty currently roams a 14-hectare camp with Jacob, and a flock of sheep.

“Jacob is also doing a great job of teaching him how to be a rhino. Having him bonded with another rhino significantly reduces human interaction time,” Erdtsieck says.

Trusty is now thriving under the close supervision and expert care of a dedicated team at an undisclosed location, and his tight bond with a sheep and slightly older fellow rhino orphan, are set to bolster his chances for a successful return to the wild once he reaches the age of 19-months.

To strengthen Trusty’s reintroduction to the wild, his caretakers are also providing as much natural stimulants as possible, such as mud baths, regular walks in the veld, the correct diet and limit as much as possible his contact with humans, though it remains vital at this stage.

“It is most important that human interaction with this calf is limited to the minimum, this is also the reason why a sheep was chosen as a companion. This way the orphan learns to bond with another animals, which made it easier to introduce him to a fellow rhino later on,” Erdtsieck explained.

The future is optimistic for Trusty as he grows by the day, while Erdtsieck has called him ” definately a fighter. –musa@namibiadailynews.info