Baby Rhino Osita and Goat Bokkie – The Best of Friends

A baby rhino entered the world in the early hours of New Year’s Eve 2015 and was immediately faced by rejection. Having been abandoned by his mother, the dehydrated baby was in desperate need of nourishment. Osita was weighing only 65 kilograms and his life was literary in the hands of animal welfare staff at Aquila Private Game Reserve.

Having had its first meal from a bottle containing foal milk formula, Osita’s struggle to survive was just beginning. Soon he has able to venture out for his first walk into the wilds and enjoy his first mud bath.

A couple of months later, playful baby rhino got to meet his first animal friend, a young female goat Bokkie. Nervous at first, they soon became the best of buddies. Bokkie is teaching Osita how to graze and do all the other things he cannot learn from his human companions. And like a true friend, teases him occasionally. When Osita goes to sleep,  Bokkie will climb all over him and make herself comfortable on top of his head.

Osita is now a healthy 530+ kg boy and grazing on his own, but the battle is far from over. The goal is to reintroduce him into the wild with the other rhinos. Chances are good as little rhino now gets loads of love and support and, after all, his name in Nigerian means 'from today onwards it will be better'. With the help of dedicated and committed staff of the Aquila Private Game Reserve, we are confident that it will.