Charlie the baby hippo was just days old when he was abandoned by his family. The authorities monitored him for 48 hours, but weak and tiny Charlie wouldn't have survived on his own and so he was brought to the Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage. Once there it soon became apparent that Charlie was even sicker than first thought.
The hippo weighed about 60 pounds and was still urinating through the umbilical cord. Luckily, with intensive nursing, this condition resolved on its own and no intervention was needed. "His weight is still low but this is expected as compromised orphans take a while to catch up," Karen Trendler, Charlie's caretaker at Thula Thula, wrote in a Facebook post. "There is nothing wrong with his attitude and appetite! And he loves going outdoors for walks."
Charlie was just days old when his family abandoned him
He wouldn't have survived on his own and so he was brought to the Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage
Once there it soon became apparent that Charlie was even sicker than first thought
The hippo weighed about 60 pounds and was still urinating through the umbilical cord
Luckily, with intensive nursing, this condition resolved on its own and no intervention was needed
"His weight is still low but this is expected as compromised orphans take a while to catch up"
"[But] there is nothing wrong with his attitude and appetite!"
"And he loves going outdoors for walks"
They're doing everything they can to nurse him back to health!
