27 October 2015 | Zimkhitha Sulelo

Image courtesy of Aquila Private Game Reserve.

In the early hours of 13 October Aquila Private Game Reserve, just outside of Cape Town, welcomed a baby rhino to its Big Five family. This is the first baby rhino born at Aquila in 10 years.

The baby rhino is a welcome addition to the family after three male rhinos were poached in 2011 and the reserve was left with no male rhino to continue its breeding programme. Rhino bulls are not only expensive but extremely rare, so when a new bull arrived in May 2014, the owner of Aquila, Searl Derman, had high hopes for him.

“In 2011, poachers slaughtered the first rhino reintroduced to the Western Cape. Not only did they kill that rhino, but they also killed its baby, which was the first rhino born in the Western Cape in 250 years,” says Derman.

“The birth of our new baby rhino has increased our population to six rhinos and we are hoping that the other three females are also pregnant, which will mean an increase to nine in the next few months.”

We couldn’t help but feel the excitement at our Cape Town offices and we just melted when we saw the pictures. Like any newborn she loves attention, and we just couldn’t keep her to ourselves and had to share the good news.

If you would like to see her face-to-face, she is only a few hours away from Cape Town. Day trips to Aquila Private Game Reserve can be arranged from the Travel Depot offices in Long Street.

If you would like to see more baby rhinos being born and learn about the Saving Private Rhino project or donate to it, contact info@savingprivaterhino.org or call+27 (0)21 430 7289.

You can also book a trip to Aquila through its website: http://www.aquilasafari.com.