He was supposed to spend his first three years at his mom’s side, nursing and growing up around her — but last week, that all changed.
Poachers targeted and killed his mom for her horns, and it’s likely little Davi saw all of it happen.
After rangers found Davi, rescuers carefully got him ready to travel to The Rhino Orphanage in South Africa. To avoid stressing him out with the noise of the transport truck and people speaking, the team gave him some earplugs and a blindfold to wear for the trip.
He was missing her so much.
“His calls for mom echoed deeply and urgently throughout the night, but two carers have been with him every step of the way,” caretakers said in an update. “At least he is in good physical condition [and] has no injuries except a broken heart, which we are positive will be mended by the love and care of everyone in our team.”
Unfortunately, Davi is not the first or last rhino calf to know this heartbreak. Wild rhinos are regularly targeted by poachers for their horns, which are then sold into the illegal wildlife trade. It is a prized ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine — although the horns are simply composed of keratin, the same protein found in human fingernails.
With his caretakers at his side around the clock, Davi is starting to feel comfortable at the orphanage. He was so worried that he wouldn’t even drink milk in the beginning — but now, he’s finally taking a bottle.
“He seeks our comfort, and that is a major step forward,” his caretakers said. “After six very long days of incredible patience, tenderness, calm quiet voices, sometimes frustration and disappointment, and the return of untouched bottles of milk, Davi has finally started drinking from a bottle! [This] had our carers crying tears of relief and joy. He has polished several liters of milk [off] already.”
