Molly and rhino orphans Manje and Venus become TV celebrities!

If you are an avid animal lover and live in the UK, you’ve probably been enjoying the BBC’s Nature’s Miracle Orphans programme on a Sunday afternoon.

This Sunday, the episode featured the orphaned rhino Manje at Care for Wild Africa Rhino Sanctuary. Manje was the youngest rhino orphan to date that Care for Wild founder Petronel Niewoudt successfully hand-reared, so it’s no surprise he has a special place in her heart. Many of our past volunteers will remember the news from when he first arrived at Care for Wild Africa Rhino Sanctuary: Manje was all but a few days old when he was brought to Care for Wild, and several days it was all hands on deck to get him settled. So, it was wonderful to see him doing so well – and looking so good on camera! It’s hard to recognise the tiny, fragile rhino from these pictures of his first moments at Care for Wild.

Manje’s “big sister” Venus also made an appearance. She is a bit more feisty than sweet Manje and still suffers from the injury and infection she had in her foot when she first came to Care for Wild, but it looks like she does a great job with keeping an eye on the younger rhino calves.

But in the end, cheeky little hippo Molly just had to steal the show a little bit: who could help but fall in love with a baby hippo who slurps a vegetable smoothie and gets covered in a moisturiser? Many of our past Care for Wild volunteers can attest to Molly’s fussy eating habits. We’ve been told by several what a picky eater this little hippo is, but on TV it looks like a rather lovable trait!

Fittingly, as the Episode was aired on Mother’s Day Sunday, big hippo Emma was given full credit for being such an amazing foster mum to little Molly.

A big “Thank You” goes to Petronel, who did a wonderful job raising awareness for rhino protection and explaining the work involved in looking after these rhino calves!