Two rhinoceroses in a forested outdoor setting with soft natural light filtering through trees. 4:53
Kariega Game Reserve channel icon Kariega Game ReserveOriginal creator 1.5M views Save

The rhino who lived has a baby

Poachers attacked three rhinos in South Africa and left them for dead. Of the two who lived, a female named Thandi is the reason this story ends with a baby. more

The two survivors were named Themba and Thandi. One vet treated them both, and he tells part of their story in a short film by photographer and filmmaker Adrian Steirn.

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Two rhinos lived through the attack. They were named Themba and Thandi.

He met Thandi on the day she was poached. She was lying in a pool of blood, and his first thought was that there was no way they could save her. Then she got to her feet. He was astounded, and it gave them some hope that she might be okay.

A person in a green shirt and cap leans over a large rhinoceros lying on a grassy field, with trees in the background. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The same vet treated both Themba and Thandi after the poachers left.

Themba fought for 24 days. Then one day he went down to the water hole to drink, as he did most days, and slipped in. He was too weak to get out, and he drowned. The vet says he just broke down.

Thandi kept healing. As news of her fight spread around the world, help and kind words poured in. The vet calls that response incredible, and he says it renewed his hope in people.

Then came word that Thandi was about to give birth. She was still a wild animal, and her instinct would be to hide in deep bush. She carries a chip, so the team went out with a radio tracker to find her, careful not to disturb her.

They found her holed up in the scrub with a beautiful, healthy calf. The baby was very relaxed, with ears like a rabbit.

A rhinoceros peeks through dense green bushes, its head partly hidden by branches. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Thandi is found in thick scrub, and this time she has company.

The calf was born on 13 January at Kariega Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, nearly three years after the attack. To the people who know Thandi, the calf is the rhino that should never have been born. By rights, Thandi should never have made it either.

Two rhinoceroses in a forested outdoor setting with soft natural light filtering through trees. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Poachers attacked three rhinos in South Africa and left them for dead.

Thandi has moved people to act for years. One of her rescuers has heard from 50 or 60 people who say she is the reason they work for rhinos. Her calf, that rescuer says, will bring hope. "This is the most important rhino in the world."