A heart-breaking video showing a rhino calf trying to drink milk from his mother after she was killed by poachers has been shared online.
In the clip, filmed at a national park in South Africa, the unresponsive mum is seen lying on her side after having her horn hacked off in the eleventh rhino killing at this particual site in just four weeks. Her infant can be seen attempting to suckle from her.
Nico Jacobs, a helicopter pilot from animal charity Rhino 911 who shot the footage, can be heard in the clip describing the horrifying scene.
He says: "What a tragic scene of a poached mother and her little baby heifer calf trying desperately to suckle milk, with no response from her mother.
"I can't understand this it's absolutely horrific to see, to see how it's trying to suckle some milk."
The rhino calf, which is reported to be around one-month old, can be heard making noises to its mother as it attempts to feed and then begins nudging her head.
Thankfully, the baby rhino, which they have named Lottie, was spotted by rescuers, who say she is lucky to be alive, as poachers often kill babies - even though they have no horns.
The rescuers believe that poachers killed the adult just hours before this clip was taken and removed both her horns.
Nico said: "We had a call from the head of some of the rhinos in this park who quite by coincidence spotted this calf walking alone and dehydrated.
"She immediately alerted me and I was able to find the mum and see what was wrong, because it was not normal for a baby to be on their own. It's completely abnormal.
"When I got there, we found the mum shot dead in the ravine and with both her horns hacked off. Fortunately for us the baby had gone back to its mum and we were able to immediately alert the vet and to take it to safety."
Rescuers were forced to sedate and blindfold little Lottie, as following her horrific experience she was terrified of humans.
Rhino 911 has not disclosed the location of the attack, in case it encourages more poachers to turn up. According to reports, a single rhino can sell for up to £10,000 on the black market.
Nico continued: "We've lost one black rhino and ten white rhino in the past four weeks, the poachers don't distinguish between the animals.
"We have 18,600 white rhino and 5,000 black rhino and we are losing three to five rhinos a day across South Africa.
"You can do the calculations of how desperate the plight of these animals is."
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Source: Rhino 911
Featured Image Credit: Rhino 911/Magnus News AgencyTopics: World News, south africa, News, rhino