A black rhinoceros in a dry savanna-like environment with an adult male wearing a light-colored crew neck t-shirt, extending a hand towards it during daylight. 12:32
HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa channel icon HERD Elephant Orphanage South AfricaOriginal creator 578K views Save

The orphan rhino Adine cared for, all grown up

Before Adine Roode started working with elephants, she looked after orphaned rhinos. Gertjie was one of them, and he has done a lot of growing since. more

Today she runs HERD, the elephant orphanage she founded in South Africa, where the skin under her hand usually belongs to an elephant. Rhinos are another matter. They're built like tanks, and in the wild their horns make them targets.

A hand in a yellow sleeve rests on an elephant's wrinkled gray skin. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
At HERD, the animals under Adine's care these days are mostly elephants.

Gertjie lost his mother and came into her care as an orphan. Now he is grown and living wild, a heavy animal grazing in the dry grass beside a dirt track.

When they meet, Adine reaches out and puts her hand on him. An animal his size could simply walk away. He stays where he is, calm, and lets her.

A black rhinoceros in a dry savanna-like environment with an adult male wearing a light-colored crew neck t-shirt, extending a hand towards it during daylight. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Before Adine Roode started working with elephants, she looked after orphaned rhinos.

Before the visit is over, Adine is in tears. Plenty of people watching cry right along with her, and most of them are sure of one thing: Gertjie remembers who she is.

Whatever he remembers, he's still a wild rhino, free to wander back into the grass when they part. That was the point of all that early care.

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