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Rhino Resource Center: Rhino Forums > Rhinos In Situ > National Parks in Africa > Lewa's Charlie

Posted by: Kees Sep 7 2009, 01:51 PM

The Lewa Conservancy in Kenya has this news: We are writing today with some sad news. Charlie, Lewa's latest orphaned black rhino, has passed away. Charlie was a young calf, only 10 months old, and was one of the most-loved rhinos on the Conservancy. Charlie was found by the Lewa security just a couple of days after his birth. Even during his very early months we realized he was not growing as fast as normal and was showing signs of being stunted. This is not the first calf from his mother "Mawingo" that has faced this problem. As time went on we became more aware of the challenges that lay ahead in hand-rearing a rhino that may well have not enjoyed the full colostrum levels in his early days of life that are necessary for normal and healthy growth. Charli e died on August 19th 2009 in the late evening. His faithful keeper was sleeping with him and woke up seeing Charlie with a bloated stomach and obviously in pain. His keeper called John Pameri, our Head of Security. John arrived within a few minutes, but sadly this was just too late. Charlie was already dead. A necropsy was done the next day and it was determined that Charlie died of abnormalities in the stomach as well as an irregular sized liver.