Thandi, a white rhino, was left for dead in 2012 after poachers gruesomely cut her horn from her face. Veterinarian Harry Smith was in South Africa to do a story on rhino poaching when he discovered the helpless rhino struggling to survive. He devoted his life to saving the species. Now, after years of rehabilitation and multiple surgeries to fix her face, Thandi is healthy again, and recently gave birth to a calf.
Two rangers at South Africa's Kariega Game Reserve were the first to see the baby rhino, which appears to be healthy.
"It is incredible that the rhino we found so close to death nearly three years ago is now the mother of a beautiful calf," Kariega general manager Alan Weyer said in statement.
This birth is a true miracle. Today, very few rhinos survive outside national parks and reserves. In 2014, poaching accounted for a record 1,020 rhino deaths in South Africa — triple the number from four years ago.
The high demand for rhino horn on the black market has caused poaching operations to surge in recent years, mostly because of a belief that they can cure diseases such as cancer. The Department of Environmental Affairs estimates that a kilogram of rhino horn ranges from $65,000 to as much as $95,000 — more expensive than gold or platinum!
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