brightcove.createExperiences(); Laura Ellison is an Australian wildlife veterinary nurse living in South African and working for The Rhino Orphanage. She has a friend named Kabelo (his name means "gift"), a white rhino, who is described as having a "gentle, playful personality, very curious and brave." One of the things Kabelo loves "is his milk and going for walks in the bush" and as this video shows, he loves to snuggle too. Really, I'm just his pillow. 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. 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. #saveourrhinos A video posted by Laura Ellison (@lauraellison) on Feb 3, 2016 at 2:14pm PST As Ellison writes on her Instagram: "Really, I'm just his pillow. 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. 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. #saveourrhinos" Sadly, Kabelo’s mother died from complications after being shot by poachers. The Rhino Orphanage is based in the Limpopo Province, founded by Arrie van Deventer. According to the Rhino Orphanage website, it is "the first specialist, dedicated, non-commercial center that cares for orphaned and injured baby rhinos with the only aim of releasing them back into the wild. It was created as the result of a lack of a specialized place for rearing baby rhinos who have been orphaned as a consequence of the current poaching crisis which feeds the illegal trade in horns."
