Rupert arrived in the Condy household as a very young 150lb calf and was relocated to Matopos Nature Reserve about six months later weighing around 500lbs. “Memories of childhood were the dreams that stayed with you after you woke.” In the six months or so that Rupert lived in the Condy home he became part of the family. Needless to say John Condy took the rhino calf back to Salisbury to look after it. Only afterwards did the rescuers realise that she had a newborn calf. The rescuers could not raise her out of the water and she drowned. After being darted, the female dashed for the water and collapsed in the shallows. In those days the doses were experimental and very much an estimation. On one particular occasion, a female Black Rhino was darted with a tranquilizer. Black Rhino were among the vast array of wildlife saved. This rescue operation lasted from 1958 to 1964. ![]() John Condy was a wildlife vet and part of a team involved in the extraordinary translocation project to save wildlife from the rising waters of the newly formed Kariba dam. Rupert Fothergill led Operation Noah, which was a wildlife rescue operation on the Zambezi river. “Behind us are memories, beside us are friends, before us are dreams.” Rupert the rhino calf was being looked after by the Condy family. ![]() ![]() The black rhino was a young calf called Rupert, named after Rupert Fothergill. It was over a few months in a suburb of the then Salisbury, Rhodesia, now Harare, Zimbabwe. My most intimate sighting and interaction with a black Rhino was in 1962. I have not previously done a post on rhino, but have been privileged to have a number of sightings.
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