A baby rhino that "survived against all odds" after being abandoned and attacked in the wild is now living its best life in a sanctuary.<br /><br />Little black rhino Raha was rescued in September 2022 after she was abandoned by her mother at just one week old.<br /><br />Ten months on, young Raha is thriving and has become the favourite of many keepers at the reserve thanks to her adorable nature.<br /><br />Footage and images show Raha scampering around the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Nursery in Nairobi National Park, Kenya.<br /><br />Frail Raha was spotted by wildlife scouts in a vulnerable position at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya, last year.<br /><br />She had been attacked by predators and was in a very poor state, with her tail completely chewed off, amongst other serious injuries to her rear.<br /><br />Vets, with the agreement of the Kenya Wildlife Service and Ol Pejeta Conservancy, rescued Raha and took her to the nursery, where she was given specialist care.<br /><br />Sheldrick Wildlife Trust said: "She was all alone with no other rhinos in the area. We will never know why she was abandoned at such a young age.<br /><br />"Perhaps her mother rejected her or perhaps she got into an altercation with another rhino and the calf was cast aside in the process."<br /><br />Raha's trials and tribulations were not over despite the rescue and she had a long road to recovery.<br /><br />Keepers tended to her injuries daily and she needed specialist veterinary care. <br /><br />Raha has gone from strength to strength throughout her rehabilitation and maintained a positive spirit.<br /><br />Sheldrick Wild Life Trust said: "Raha’s early days at the Nursery were a real struggle.<br /><br />"Her tail had been bitten clean off and her rear end mutilated, chewing through to the tailbone and destroying her anus.<br /><br />"We hit a worrying stumble when she was unable to defecate for several days but veterinary intervention kicked her nether regions back into gear.<br /><br />"While her body struggled to survive, Raha’s spirit never wavered.<br /><br />"She came full of fight, charging around her stable and huffing and puffing at anyone in the vicinity."<br /><br />The keepers at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust managed to win her heart by giving her ear rubs and gentle scratches.<br /><br />It was essential that the keepers managed to gain the trust of Raha due to her precarious healing process.<br /><br />They added: "Initially, her excursions were limited to forays onto a large bed of hay spread across a stockade, which shielded her injuries from dirt and germs.<br /><br />"After several weeks, however, she had healed enough to expand her patch to the nearby forest."<br /><br />Raha is now thriving the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which hope to successfully reintegrate her back into the wild in a protected area, when she is older.<br /><br />Kenya saw its population of black rhinos decline by 98 per cent from 20,000 to 350 between 1970 and 1983.<br /><br />But conservation efforts for the critically endangered animal have seen numbers rise to over 900.
