In a video which has gone viral on social media, a baby white rhino was caught playfully charging at a wildebeest which seems to understand that the calf wants to play and happily joins in the merriment.
The video was shot by Marion Frew, manager at Izingwe Lodge which is located within the Welgevonden Game Reserve, 220 km north of Pretoria.
Garnering over 1.6 million views and 231K likes since it was posted four days ago, the video shows the baby first run up to a lone blue wildebeest, briefly stopping in front of it before playfully charging at the wildebeest.
Video: Supplied by Izingwe Lodge
A warthog watches in the background as the wildebeest plays along, seemingly also having fun.
The wildebeest stands its ground and then hops back playfully before running away.
The baby rhino gives chase but then turns around and runs back to mum at the last minute, realising that he may have ventured a tad too far.
Frew said that this is perfectly normal behaviour for a 2-month old calf. “They are bouncy and playful at that age,” she said.
A rhino calf may stay with its mother for up to three years until it learns what food sources are good to eat and how to fend off likely predators.
Welgevonden Game Reserve is a 36 000-hectare private game reserve in the Waterberg District, of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The reserve is nestled within the internationally recognised Unesco Waterberg Biosphere Reserve, flagged for its excellent sustainable conservation efforts.