The following is information on the Rhino Orphan named: SHIDA  (foster now)

Latest Updates on SHIDA:

• 1/25/2010 - Maalim and the Mattress
• 2/17/2009 - An update about Maalim - A tiny black rhino
• 6/9/2008 - Maxwell's update
• 1/12/2008 - Maxwell's eyes
• 6/6/2007 - Maxwell and Shida update
• 3/23/2007 - MAXWELL'S OPERATION
• 1/20/2007 - Shida Update
• 1/7/2007 - SHIDA'S PROLAPSE
• 9/13/2006 - Shida becomes more independent
• 4/17/2004 - Update on SHIDA

View to Location map for SHIDA (opens a new window)

Most Recent Keeper's Diary Entry: (view all the latest entries for SHIDA)

7/26/2010 - At about 5pm as Amos was feeding Murka another keeper Mwetu tried to put a blanket on her. Murka who does not like being approached from behind was taken by surprise and panicked turning towards him pushing him against the stockade bars. Having endured such trauma her reaction was understandable. Amos called the other keepers and Zoom Zoom acted quickly distracting Murka so that Mwetu could get away. Mwetu sustained slight fractures in his upper arm but is fine and does not blame Murka. A warthog became trapped in Shida’s stockade today which did not amuse him. He tried to push the warthog out through the stockade bars but was unsuccessful as the warthog was too big to fit through them. The keepers came to the rescue opening the gate so that the frightened warthog could get out.

The Two Latest Photos of SHIDA: (view gallery of pictures for SHIDA)
 

A young Shida with Angela Sheldrick photo taken on 6/24/2008	Shida photo taken on 11/1/2004

ORPHAN PROFILE FOR: SHIDA (foster now)

Zoom / Enlarge A Newcomer: On the morning of the 30th October, a 2 month old baby rhino came into our care, his mother apparently an extremely old and emaciated Nairobi Park cow named “Stella”, whose teeth were worn completely flat. Having come to the end of her life, she lay down to die near the Ivory Burn site in Nairobi National Park, her calf desperately trying to suckle her recumbent body. Hyaenas circled her and her baby all night, the calf having caused a wound on her udder, which is probably what attracted the attention of the hyaenas. He must have put up a spirited struggle to spare him and his mother a savage mauling by the hyaenas. K.W.S. euthenazed the dying mother when the pair were discovered in the morning, bringing the baby to us. Baby rhinos are amazingly resilient, and, unlike the elephants, always want to survive, and since this calf, though thin, was unscathed, his chances of survival are good. It is, however, necessary always to give a rhino that has been subjected to trauma and stress a course of injectable broad spectrum antibiotic to circumvent tick-borne diseases and pneumonia brought on by a lowered immune system through stress. We have named this orphan “Shida”, the Swahili word for “problem” reflecting the problem both he and his mothered suffered during his short time on earth. He is feeding well, and although still grieving for his lost mother, has settled down, and should soon be able to begin the rounds of the dungpiles and urinals, in order to become accepted by both the rhino residents of the area as well as our other two orphaned rhinos, “Magnum” who will be 7 at the end of January 2004 and “Makosa” who was 4 years old on lst August 2003. Both these orphans are now unaccompanied by their Keepers, but return to what is, after all, Home Base on a daily basis, Magnum usually in the morning, and Mokasa in the evening, returning to their erstwhile Stockade where they feel most secure, and when any abrasions and wounds can be treated. Bull rhinos have to fight for territory and status, so when one takes on a rhino, one must expect the unexpected!

Please see the resources above for more information on SHIDA

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