Since 1977, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has led one of the biggest rescue and rehabilitation wildlife operations in East Africa. Although they specialize in elephant care, their sanctuaries are home to a variety of animals that arrive orphaned or injured, including giraffes, zebras, and rhinos.
“Rhinos are special animals,” Edwin, a keeper at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, said in a video update posted on September 22. “Although the population in our country is steadily increasing. At the moment, Kenya has got more than 2,000 rhinos, which is really good. And we are happy for that.”
To date, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has rescued and successfully rehabilitated 20 rhinos. One black rhino currently under their care is Tytan, who was orphaned at an early age.
“[His] mother died after falling down a cliff, and at eight months, he could not have survived,” Edwin explained in the video. “That’s why we had to bring him into the nursery. If he would not have been identified at eight months, the hyenas [and] the lions would have been excited to find him out in the wild.”
One week after Tytan was rescued, a tiny orphaned zebra was found and transported to the same nursery in Nairobi.
“Her mother had succumbed to the same fate, falling off a cliff,” the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust explained on its website. “Tytan and Notty, as we named her, became best buddies and have been inseparable ever since.”
Every day, Tytan, Notty, and the rest of the “herd” are released into the nearby park to explore and graze.
Every night, Tytan returns to the nursery to drink milk, snack on alfalfa, and sleep on a bed of hay as a keeper watches over him.
Eventually, when Tytan reaches five years of age, his keepers will begin leaving his stockade open, so he can have the option to stay out in the park overnight.
Over time, he will return less and less as he naturally becomes more solitary and carves out a territory for himself in the wilds of Nairobi.
“He’s only one and a half years old, and he’s lucky to be with us now — lucky to be alive,” Edwin said. “And expected to go back into the wild after some time.”
But, for right now, Tytan spends his days “grazing happily in the forest.”
“Despite his physical prowess, Tytan remains an immature rhino who enjoys regular naps on the forest floor with Notty and his keepers on sentry duty.”
On September 22, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust shared a video of Edwin checking in on Tytan and another black rhino, Maxwell, as Notty dutifully followed his friend around the sanctuary.
“Maxwell, who is permanently blind and has a forever home with us, is our beloved nursery patriarch,” the nonprofit explained in the Instagram caption. “Tytan, who was only rescued last year, is just beginning his journey with us and will one day return to the wild.”
In the comments section, one Instagram user asked: “Do any of the other animal orphans ever make their way back to you guys the way ex-orphan elephants sometimes do?”
“Yes,” the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust responded. “Many ex-orphans of all species continue to visit us throughout their wild lives!”
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Featured Image: Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
