It has been a non-stop celebration and reminiscing since the rhino calf whose birth was caught on video last year turned a year old.
For the first time, the birth was captured on video.
On Friday, August 11, Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary wished Axl a happy first birthday.
Axl was born to a nine-year-old white rhino cow, Olive, at 7.50am last year.
Olive was orphaned in 2013 after poachers killed her mother. At 10 months old she was rescued and brought to Care for Wild. Olive was one of the first rhinos to complete her rehabilitation programme and enter the rewilding and release programme. Axl was the third calf born to two orphans of poaching, making Storm a father for the third time.
On its Facebook page, Care for Wild said that in a similar style to his name reveal video, any and all plans to film a beautiful first birthday video were thwarted by Axl’s super-protective and feisty mom, Olive.
Care for Wild said that Olive repeatedly makes any kind of filming a challenge.
“Since her rescue over 11 years ago, Olive has been a fierce firecracker and to this day she retains her title. Happy Birthday Axl, may you inherit your mother’s zest for life and crazy personality,” Care for Wild said.
In a video, the sanctuary’s founder and chief executive, Petronel Nieuwoudt, said that it is Axl’s birthday but also that she will soon run away – and she does run away because Olive is a cheeky mom.
Nieuwoudt jumps into a nearby vehicle to get away from Olive.
Nieuwoudt said that Olive invited all the calves to Axl’s big birthday party.
In honour of Axl’s birthday, Care for Wild shared footage of his birth.
Axl’s name was revealed in a video on World Rhino Day, September 2022.
Care for Wild said they wanted to create a beautifully crafted video where Nieuwoudt reveals the name, “ to tell you that Olive’s baby’s name is Axl and it comes out of the fruit of the olive…”
Here are a few more cute videos of the birthday boy and his mother:
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News