On 7th September 2025, Borana Conservancy rangers reported that a resident female black rhino, Mumu, had been found deceased at the bottom of a cliff. It is believed that she fell while being pursued by an amorous male rhino attempting to mate with her — a tragic but completely natural cause of death.

To compound the tragedy, Mumu left behind a seven-month-old orphan. Infant rhinos are highly vulnerable to predation and rhino aggression. He had luckily avoided his mother’s fate, but wanting to be near her and not understanding the situation, he chased after her and managed to find a way down the cliff. The rangers spotted him lying up next to his dead mother.

If the little orphan was to survive, he needed to be rescued — and quickly. However, it wasn’t quite so simple. The calf was in remote, rugged terrain, which made accessing him a challenge. He later disappeared, so Borana Conservancy rangers deployed drones and an aircraft to search him down. For two days, he gave everyone the runaround, navigating thick bush and deep valleys on his own.

48 hours later, he was fortuitously located on a camera trap. Between Borana Conservancy and the Kenya Wildlife Service, a rescue was put in motion. With the use of a helicopter, their team guided the calf to an open plain, where he could be darted from the air. From there, he was secured for his journey down to Nairobi.

The orphan calf was young but extremely wild. Upon his arrival in Nairobi, he remained with KWS in his traveling crate. The decision was then made to bring him to our Nairobi Nursery, where he would follow in the footsteps of the many other orphaned black rhinos we have raised over the years. We named him Tytan, a nod to the strength and bravery he had already shown.

With its precious cargo onboard, the traveling crate made its way to the SWT Nursery on the KWS crane truck. When Tytan was offloaded into his new stockade, we noticed that he had a marked limp. The cause is unclear, but considering all he endured — after his mother fell from the steep cliff face, this young calf had to navigate the same extreme terrain on his own — he likely injured himself making that rushed and perilous descent.

Tytan arrived at the Nursery very feisty. However, as we have discovered over the years, black rhinos are full of bluster. He huffed and puffed and mock-charged, but our Keepers stood unfazed on the other side of the fence, patiently helping him understand that he was in safe hands. Day and night, someone sat vigil with him, until his charges turned into half-hearted snuffles and snorts. By week’s end, Tytan’s suspicion evaporated and he had fully embraced his human family.

Exactly one week after Tytan’s arrival at the Nursery, a very special friend entered his orbit — a little orphaned zebra with a remarkably similar story. Notty, as we named her, was rescued from Hell’s Gate National Park. Like Tytan's mother, Notty's mum had fallen down a cliff and died, but somehow, Notty survived.

The unlikely pair bonded instantly. Notty and Tytan do everything together: They have their bottles side by side, they browse quietly in the forest as a duo, they even sleep in adjacent stockades. When Tytan has his mud bath — an activity he enjoys enormously — Notty stands off to the side, basking in the muddy spray. Where one goes, the other follows.

It must be said that Tytan does not have the same affection for the orphaned elephants. He gives them a wide berth, greeting their presence with his signature huffs and puffs of indignation. However, Mzinga — our famous rhino lover — is giving the friendship best shot. On several occasions, she even dodged the Keepers and snuck back to the stockades so she could get to know Tytan. Unfazed by the frosty welcoming she received, Mzinga remained by the rhino’s gate until he calmed down and allowed her to lay her trunk along his body. Perhaps they will be proper friends in the fullness of time!

Because Tytan was anaesthetised for his capture and rescue, we didn’t want to subject him to further immobilisation for an x-ray. However, he has been thoroughly examined by a number of veterinarians, all of whom are confident that his injury will heal with time. There is no swelling or obvious discomfort, and we have already seen a slow improvement. His compromised leg doesn’t inhibit him; he still huffs and puffs and spins around in that charming rhino way.

The wary, wild-eyed rhino we first received has morphed into a polite little guy — in fact, his Keepers remark that he is the gentlest black rhino they have ever seen at his age. In true rhino form, Tytan loves his rituals. When he’s close to home, he breaks into a run, eager to return to his stockade and the bounty of leafy vegetation he knows is waiting within.

Tytan is a double survivor — overcoming not only his individual circumstances, but also the uphill battle his species has faced. Black rhinos once flourished across Africa, but poaching nearly drove them to extinction. Kenya’s black rhino population plummeted 98 percent between 1970 and 1983, dwindling to just 350 in little over a decade.

Their story could have ended there, but the world rallied to give the species a fighting chance. Thanks to dedicated field conservation efforts and global support, black rhinos are making a slow-but-steady recovery. Kenya has emerged as a stronghold for the species. Since the dark days of poaching, its black rhino population has nearly tripled, and now the country is home to over a thousand individuals — each one a conservation success and a symbol of hope for the future.

Tytan is part of that future. He already beat the odds to survive the terrible, tragic accident that claimed his mother’s life. Then, to survive 48 hours alone at such a young age was a marvel in and of itself. We are grateful to all those who worked to save him and give him the second chance he deserves.

Now, we will guide Tytan through his infancy and adolescence. Many years down the line, he will join the wild black rhino population of Nairobi National Park, supporting the recovery of his species in his own natural way. But in the meantime, it is our privilege to be part of his story.