Her rescuers called her Hope because of her enduring will to survive.
But the four-year-old rhino that poachers left for dead has now suffered a setback.
A team of wildlife surgeons from Saving the Survivors have had to remove a fibreglass cast that they had applied to her mutilated face earlier this month to protect it after she damaged it by pushing her face into the walls of her enclosure.
Hope was discovered in an Eastern Cape Reserve, her face hacked apart, earlier this month.
Poachers had killed her mother.
Maggots and fly larvae had infested her wounds and the surgeons applied the face shield to protect her.
In a statement on Friday, veterinarian William Fowlds, said: “We had to dart her to tidy up the bandages that were irritating her, and we needed to get close enough to check under the shield for infection and maggot infestation.
“Once she was fully sedated we could have a proper look at how the wound has responded to treatment.
“The protective mask was damaged beyond repair and it was decided not to replace it during this procedure to give the anchor points a chance to strengthen again.”
Her face shield must be left off, even though she runs the risk of infection - but the team has given her more antibiotics and medicine to keep problematic maggots and fly larvae away.
“Her injuries are truly horrific but there is good evidence of the early stages of recovery through the formation of granulation tissue and improved blood supply to the affected area. Hope’s face, in spite of the amount of trauma she sustained, is beginning to heal. But she still has a long, long road ahead.
“We had to make a decision on whether to place another shield over the wound but after we had a good look there was just not enough uncompromised bone for us to screw another face shield into place. So we have to leave the shield off for now.”
Saving the Survivors’ Dr Gerhard Steenkamp told the Saturday Star he remained optimistic. “She is eating well and acting like we would expect a rhino to act. It’s a very long road ahead of us. It’s still early days.”
Saturday Star