For young animals, practically everything they find is a potential plaything. In this footage, a baby rhino playfully explores its surroundings, while Mum and Dad look on.
Simon Jones submitted this adorable footage to Latest Sightings. He filmed it while visiting Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa.
Rhino crossing
As Simon’s video begins, we see a male white rhino crossing the track in Kariega. Behind it, a young calf is busy examining something on the ground.
White rhinos are also known as the square-lipped rhino, differentiating them from the black, or hook-lipped rhino.
Curious calf
As the bull moves on, we notice that the calf is still focused on a tangled mass of twigs. In typical toddler fashion, the calf cannot resist exploring.
Curiosity about its environment is vital to its development, all the more so when play is involved. As such, the older rhinos are quite happy to let the youngster play while they look for food.
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Games vs grazing
Subsequently, the calf lifts the cluster on its horn. Perhaps it is trying to impress Dad with a show of strength.
However, rhinos must eat 50 kg to 70 kg (110 to 150 pounds) of grass per day, so he has no time for games.
Taste test
Unfazed, the calf continues investigating the twigs. Only now, he has them in his mouth. By exploring with taste, the calf learns what tastes it likes and doesn’t.
However, since white rhinos only eat grass, the youngster quickly realises that the twigs don’t belong in its diet. Incidentally, black rhinos feed on twigs and leaves, hence the differing mouthparts.
Maybe Mum knows
As the calf turns, it sees its mother approaching. Perhaps she knows what to do with the toy.
Short-sighted as she is, Mum moves in for a closer look, but she too shows little interest in the strange object.
You’ll note that her horn is quite short and stubby as opposed to long and sharply pointed. This is because conservationists routinely trim horns in South Africa to deter poaching.
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More to explore
With neither Mum nor Dad showing much interest in its discovery, the calf leaves the twig cluster and moves on. No doubt it won’t be long before the calf finds something else to play with.
In the care of the adults and under the watchful eye of Kariega’s staff, this calf should go on to thrive, playing a vital role in the reserve’s ecological health.
Threatened with extinction
In the early 1900s, there were fewer than 100 wild white rhinos. Subsequently, strict protection measures brought their population back from the brink, before illegal poaching caused their numbers to plummet once more.
With less than 16,000 left in the wild, they are classified as Near Threatened by CITES, meaning they will go extinct without proactive protection and conservation measures.
