When one of the younger, rhino cows got pregnant for the first time, we were all awaiting the arrival with great anticipation. Then the frantic call came over the radio. One of the bulls was fighting with the young cow while she was giving birth.

As bad luck would have it a grumpy bull came past just as Daisy’s mom was in labor. The smells apparently confused him and he charged her. A tremendous fight followed but the bull would not stop and chased Daisy’s mom into the veldt. Newborn Daisy was left all alone.

The reserve team moved in with their trucks and picked Daisy up, wrapped her in blanket and set off after her mom. We found the mom quite a distance away and got as close as we dared and put Daisy on the ground. We were all holding breath that her mom would take her, but no such luck. The experience was just all too much for the mom. She turned and ran away.

Once again Daisy was wrapped in blankets and put on the car and home it was. By now she was cold and thirsty.

We were not experienced with raising newborn rhino’s, so we phoned Karen Trendler, who has raised several before. Karen told us to be careful what we fed Daisy as baby rhinos are very often allergic to cow’s milk and can even die from it. Oh panic, what now? She said to just give Daisy water for now to rehydrate, and that she was on her way with proper formula and medicine.

Once home and water bottle in hand I got ready to feed Daisy who was now a bit more than desperate. Problem number one: Rhino’s nudge their mom’s to get milk, so Daisy nudged me, knocking me to the floor! When I eventually got up, I realized that I would have to stand tougher and get a towel to brace my now bruised ribs.

It was a battle but Daisy and I eventually came right. Karen arrived with her formula and medicine for her umbilical cord and feet.

Daisy was thrilled and loved her new mild formula, the nudging even got gentler as she got full.

Night brought another drama, as baby rhino’s sleep with their mother’s to keep warm. So the double bed mattress was brought into the lounge, and everything else was moved out. A heat lamp was placed over the mattress and this is where we all had to sleep. Daisy was quite content but snored and kicked the whole night.

In the end, all went well and Daisy got bigger very fast. Rhino calves stay with their moms for two to three years, and we realized that Daisy would be better served elsewhere. Fortunately, we were able to relocate Daisy to a farm nearby that had a larger staff that could look after her and give her the special attention she needed.

Daisy quickly made friends with a huge dog on the farm, and the two of them could be seen running through the veldt together. Daisy is still on the farm and is now a healthy, happy young rhino.

A recurring problem with orphaned baby bush babies is that mothers tend to “park” them. When they are old enough, usually about a month, the mom will take them with her when she goes out to forage. As she requires her hands to catch the insects needed to feed her babies, she puts the young ones in a safe spot while she goes off to hunt for bugs. This is called parking.

Unfortunately, parking is a little known behaviour and guests at the reserve often come across these babies and presume that they have been abandoned. The guests then unwittingly pick up the infant bushbabies and bring them to us. We have tried to take them back and get them to their mothers, but this has never been successful.

I have had about eleven bush babies come to be reared by me in this manner.

But not Wink. He fell out of his nest, which was high in a roof,  sometime during the night. His mom did not come and pick him up which she usually would have. We tried to locate her but with no success. We presumed that something might have happened to her when she went out to feed.

Wink grew up very fast and in no time was jumping and running all over the house. Bush babies urinate on their hands for better grip and to sent mark their territory. In no time, my refrigerator, curtain railings and every lamp was covered in sticky, smelly pee.

Despite this behaviour, Wink was easy to like. He was quick to make friends with everyone, even animals of another species. I woke one night to find him sharing his bowl of food with the dassie I was also rearing.

Bush babies are strictly nocturnal and in no time he was outside at night exploring the big wide world. He made his new nest in the rafters of my roof and would sleep there during the day.

When I got another bush baby to look after the next season, Wink was quick to adopt him and teach him the ropes. He made an excellent foster parent to most of the bush babies that came into my care.

Kiku was very sick and had to have a course of antibiotics for pneumonia that resulted from the exposure. It was touch and go for weeks. During this period, I had to carry her on my body under my shirt 24 hours a day to regulate body temperature and give her comfort. Eventually I tied her to me with a sarong so that I could carry on working.

Kiku made it and slowly started joining a dassie colony. It took three months to have her accepted by the dominant male, but luckily just at this time, she came into heat. That was that and nine months later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Mouse.

Kiku and Mouse are still both healthy and living with friends in a dassie colony.

The mother had decided to have babies in one of the thatch roof chalets. Animals often use these thatch roofs as nests as they are warm and high off the ground — safe  from predators. Unfortunately, Miki’s mom did not take into account that thatched grass is also very slippery. The supervisor contacted me and I raced over with a lump in my throat — to survive from such a high fall onto a tiled floor is rare.

But Miki was a fighter. I saw that she was only a day or so old. She still had her eyes closed and an umbilical cord showed on her tummy. She was very cold from lying on the floor, and so to get her body temperature up, I shoved her down my shirt and carried her home.

We knew that her mom’s milk would resemble that of a cat, and so I put her on “Kittylac,”  a cat milk replacement formula. So far so good: but Miki wanted to drink every two hours, day and night.  She would nuzzle into one’s hand and softly call “oomf, oomf, oomf” when she wanted to be fed.

All went well until Miki’s eyes opened and she started to explore the big wide world. Genets are fabulous climbers and in no time she was up the curtains, across the bookshelf and into the cupboards. Nothing was spared. She also insisted on marking her new home by peeing on absolutely everything. As she grew, her favorite perch seemed to be the front of my shirt. I often wonder if she felt safe and comfortable there from the day I saved her.

Miki grew into a beautiful and independent genet and started leaving home for longer periods to explore the outside world. She became an expert tree climber and got herself into all sorts of trouble with the local nesting birds.

One day her wild instinct kicked in and she didn’t want to be inside with me anymore. She became what she was born to be: a beautiful, wild, genet.

When they were found the next day they were cold and hungry. We spent hours trying to find mom to reunite them but no luck. So the three little piglets came home with me.

As all three were little boys it was impossible to distinguish between them. I marked each of them on the head with a spot of nail polish and so they got named one spot, two spot and three spot. This was necessary as they needed a bottle every two hours and I did not want to feed the same piglet twice!!

As they grew we had to take them for walks and runs every day and spend afternoons scratching for roots to teach them how to do this.

The spot brothers eventually grew up fat and healthy and were reintroduced back onto the reserve. I keep track of them and the three of them are still together to this day.

During the storm, the high winds blew Kingston from his mother’s nest, which was housed in a small hole in a tree trunk. Lucky for Kingston, the nest was near a residence and the housekeeper found him shivering and wet on the stoop. Not knowing what to do with the little owl, she called me.

Two brave rangers set off in an open game drive vehicle, through bucketing rain and thunder to fetch little Kingston. They brought him to me safely tucked in a weatherproof jacket.

When Kingston arrived, I was sure he was the cutest owl I’ve ever seen. Kingston is a pearl spotted owl, one of the smallest owl species in South Africa. His entire body fit inside the palm of my hand. I carefully wrapped Kingston in a hand towel to dry his feathers, and held him close to keep him warm.

Initially, I fed the tiny owl with a dropper. After a few days, he began to eat insects. Kingston quickly put on some weight and before long developed the last of his flight feather. Then Kingston was ready for flight.

On a beautiful quiet evening we took him outside just as the sun was setting. Kingston looked unsure at first, then braced himself and flew off into the sunset.

He still comes into the garden some nights. We often hear him calling from a distance waiting for the day that a mate will answer his call.

When I got there the ranger told me Spikes story. The little guy apparently tried to get an easy meal by eating some dog food. Unfortunately he did not wait for the dog to be away. The dog naturally got very upset at this food thief and attacked little Spike. Luckily for Spike he can roll into a ball and has sharp spines to protect himself.

I took him home and got him cleaned up. We put a bit of antiseptic cream onto his wounds and settled him down for the night. Or so I thought. Hedgehogs are nocturnal and when I wanted to go to bed, he wanted food. Spike was all over the house, and was seemingly into everything.

Spike became comfortable with us quickly, and would even poke out his nose to say hello when you picked him up. He was with us for some time, but eventually all of his wounds healed. The time now came to find him a home.

Our reserve is not suitable as there are no known hedgehogs in the area. Luckily along came our friend Adrian. He has a farm where he grows organic vegetables. Because Adrian’s farm is 100% organic, he uses hedgehogs to control the slug population. He told me that he had two females at the moment and would love to take Spike.

Spike settled right in and in no time was a big hit with the ladies. Six month later, Spike became a proud father of four babies.

He has since doubled in size and almost tripled in weight. Too much of the good life!

The veering car threw her through the air — her baby still clinging onto her belly. The shocked driver picked up the wretched bundle and rushed off to the nearest veterinarian. Alas, for mommy it was too late. Her four months old baby kept calling her as she clung her mommy.

The little baby girl monkey had a badly torn upper lip, X-rays confirmed a broken arm and she was dizzy from mild concussion. The vet set her arm in a cast and then called me for assistance.

I was greeted by very sad eyes, filled with disbelief and sorrow. This little helpless monkey was not only hurting on the outside but very much on the inside as well. Her little heart filled with pain about losing her mommy and not understanding what had happened to her. I called the little baby girl Thandi — The loved one.

Back at the sanctuary little Thandi started to trust me after a few hours as I kept her warm in my arms. Loving care and time soon enough healed the torn lip and broken arm. Mommy monkey gave her life protecting her and I was giving her love to find the strength to carry on living.

Surrounded by other orphaned little monkey friends at the sanctuary Thandi grew into a healthy and confident young monkey. She joined the Rafiki Troop when she was a year old. Through playing and fighting, as monkey do, she established herself as a middle ranking female.  A few years after her rescue, Thandi fell pregnant and became a mommy herself, recently giving birth to a beautiful little baby girl named Thandeka.

Today Thandi is happily frolicking around in the camp and enjoys the support system which other troop members are offering her. She even has nannies helping her to take care of Thandeka. And most important, she’s allowed to be a monkey — naughty by nature.

I a few months the troop’s rehabilitation program will be complete and they will be released back into the wild to again live free in the Bushveld.