Adapting to the Cold

| 1 June 2018

In the picture, three of KMSA’s adopted orphan rhinos; Annie, River and Tyson are enjoying their teff hay in various ways. Annie, on the left, is using her share as warm bedding to sleep on, Tyson, on the right, is eating the hay, as he should and River in the middle, just can’t decide what to do!


Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary continues to experience near-freezing conditions, 1 degree celcius through the nights, with the days warming up, only slightly. The orphans in the ‘intensive protection zone’ at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary are slowly learning to adapt to the very cold weather.


The rhinos are walking through the bush and have found areas that are more comfortable for them, mostly choosing higher ground, away from the river. This makes perfect sense as the area higher above sea level is slightly warmer.


The orphans are still being given big bales of teff hay to supplement their diet, but as they reach the end of the bale, they start to scatter it around, snuggle up into it and then nod off to sleep!


It is also interesting to note the change in their drinking behaviour, now that it is much colder. The water from the river is almost too cold to drink and so all of the animals are drinking from the shallower pools where the water is slightly warmer. It is amazing to see these rhino learning and adapting on their own.