Parenting

Orphaned baby rhino gets cuddles from Aussie carer

“Really, I’m just his pillow”

An Australian vet nurse who works at a South African rhinoceros orphanage has shared a heart-warming video of a baby rhino snuggling into her.

“Really, I’m just his pillow,” wrote Laura Ellison when she posted the cute video on Instagram.

The baby rhino, who is named Kabelo, can be seen flicking his ears as he lays his head on Laura’s stomach. He then leans back and puts his head beside hers.

Laura wants to encourage other people to care about the critically endangered animals.

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However, she has also cautioned that rhinos are wild animals.

“While I want you all to experience the gentleness of rhinos, to fall in love with them as I have and inspire the same desperation I have to save them, I must stress the relationship I have with our rhinos that allow these experiences,” she wrote.

“I have been with Kabelo since his arrival to the orphanage and we have developed such a strong bond.

“While Kabelo is so comfortable with me, he is not with many others. Please appreciate that he is still a wild animal… But also with the capacity to love so forgivingly.

“Humans took his mother and for him to trust me the way he does is incredibly bittersweet. Rhinos deserve a life with their mothers without human interference. Please help me fight to secure it.”

Laura also posts pictures of her life as a vet nurse in South Africa. You can follow her here.

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