Springboks and All Blacks – foes on field, besties at baby rhino sanctuary

They may be the fiercest of foes on the rugby pitch, but off the field, they’ve joined hands for a visit to South Africa’s Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary in Mpumalanga. The Sanctuary shared some lovely photos on Facebook that we didn’t even realize we absolutely needed.

The two rivals fostered some comradery ahead of their face-off at Mbombela Stadium last weekend as they took some time learning about the organisation, and getting intimate with some of the sanctuary’s residents.

Care for Wild is the largest orphaned rhino sanctuary in the world and is committed to the conservation of viable White and Black Rhino orphans in South Africa, specialising in the rescue, rehabilitation, release, and protection.

Unfortunately, rhino poaching remains an urgent problem in South Africa. The country is in danger of fast becoming the centre of the rhino poaching crisis, leaving an alarming rate of defenseless, young rhino orphans in need of a highly specialised facility.

The Sanctuary holds an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South African National Parks in a joint effort to protect and conserve the future of Rhinos and South Africa’s heritage.

Unlike any rugby match, all teams finished the visit off with a win. The Sanctuary was able to get the poaching plight heard on an international level, the boys in black and green were able to learn about anti-poaching efforts being done to protect rhinos and even got to feed some of the orphans at the sanctuary.

But the biggest winner was most certainly the rhinos. Their stories were heard and they got to be the centre of attention (in the best and most adorable way) the entire time.

 

The boys were embraced by Care for Wild’s CEO and founder, Petronel Nieuwoudt, and her team who on their Facebook post, expressed their gratitude to both teams for spending time with the organisation and the rhinos which in turn helps to raise awareness about the poaching crisis.

“Thank you for wanting to learn more about the rhino poaching crisis and the efforts being made to save a species from extinction. Rhinos belong to the world and it is all of our responsibility to save this keystone species. Thank you for welcoming these rhino orphans into your hearts.”

You can find out more about what the sanctuary does via its Facebook and Website pages.

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Picture: Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary / Facebook