{"id":362251,"date":"2026-01-10T05:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T05:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/362251\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T05:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T05:43:09","slug":"ranger-discovers-newborn-wild-baby-fighting-for-his-life-in-a-dam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/362251\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranger Discovers Newborn Wild Baby Fighting For His Life In A Dam"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a ranger on patrol in South Africa saw something splashing around in a small dam, he didn\u2019t think twice before stepping in to help. Moving closer, he realized a young zebra lay in the water.<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

Stuck and desperate for help, the zebra foal thrashed about. Ranger Bernardo tried to pull the foal out himself, to no avail.<\/p>\n

He called Petronel Nieuwoudt, founder and CEO of Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/a>, for assistance.<\/p>\n

Nieuwoudt, already out in the field with another animal caregiver, immediately headed towards the dam.<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the team arrived, Bernardo was struggling to get the foal out on his own,\u201d Rachael Pfeiffer, who handles media and communications for Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary, told The Dodo. \u201cThis foal was likely only a day old and still very wobbly on his feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using all the strength they had, Nieuwoudt and her colleague gripped the slippery zebra and pulled him out of the water.<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was extremely cold and soaking wet and had likely been in the water for several hours,\u201d Pfeiffer said. \u201cWhile he was clearly in shock, he remained calm throughout the rescue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nieuwoudt covered the foal in towels, rubbing his tiny body to dry him off and keep him warm.<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t see his herd anywhere, and she wanted to make sure the zebra was OK, so the team transported him to their sanctuary\u2019s intensive care unit.<\/p>\n

Once inside, Nieuwoudt realized the baby was much younger than she initially thought: His umbilical cord was still attached.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe his mother came to drink and that he slipped in,\u201d Pfeiffer said. \u201cA mare would not usually leave a newborn foal unless something had gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though hypothermic, the baby had no injuries or water in his lungs. They gave him some sugary milk as he warmed up and regained some energy.<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

In the meantime, rangers and Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary\u2019s conservation technology manager were on the ground and flying drones to locate the foal\u2019s herd.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur rangers know the local wildlife extremely well,\u201d Pfeiffer said. \u201cDifferent zebra herds have distinct home ranges \u2026 and this particular herd often drinks at that water point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once they located the baby zebra\u2019s herd, Nieuwoudt and an animal caregiver walked the wobbly baby into the area and released him.<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

From a distance, they watched as he called out to his mother and the herd approached him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis mother immediately nuzzled him,\u201d Pfeiffer said. \u201cHe responded to her scent, and he was accepted back without hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary<\/p>\n

In a Facebook post about the rescue, Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary celebrated this happy ending: \u201cAs a registered wildlife rehabilitation centre, our core purpose is always to return animals safely to the wild whenever possible. Seeing this little foal back with his mother, where he belongs, was a moment of true joy for the entire team.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to support Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary, you can donate to their efforts through their website<\/a>.\"Neighbors<\/a>Neighbors Hear \u2018Frantic\u2019 Howls From River Bank And Find Someone StrandedA strong current threatened to wash him away \ud83e\udd7a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a ranger on patrol in South Africa saw something splashing around in a small dam, he didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[138738,5439,34100,90,5438,5436,56,54,55,4407,5442,138736,138737,138740,138739],"class_list":{"0":"post-362251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-baby-zebra","9":"tag-daily-dodo","10":"tag-sarah-ashley","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-standard","13":"tag-the-dodo","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom","17":"tag-wildlife","18":"tag-wildlife-encounters","19":"tag-zebra","20":"tag-zebra-foal","21":"tag-zebra-rescue","22":"tag-zebra-stuck-in-dam"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}