Rhinos flourish in South African wildlife reserve

During the rescue of a South African rhino calf whose mother was killed by poachers, six heavily perspiring men squeezed the sedated orphan into a helicopter whose seats and doors had been removed to make more space, according to a witness account. The rhino's behind stuck out of the aircraft a bit, but the improvised airlift in February was a success.

Days later, the jittery calf trotted around a holding pen at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, a wildlife area whose tradition as a rhino refuge contrasts with an otherwise grim picture in which rhinos have been slaughtered in increasing numbers to meet demand for their horns in parts of Asia, especially Vietnam.

The disoriented calf, which collided noisily with an enclosure door at one point, could spend a couple of years under human care until it is resilient enough to return to the wild. It is the guest of conservationists whose predecessors, many decades ago, chased darted rhinos through thorny bush on horseback, or noosed them while speeding alongside the galloping beasts in open trucks.