Apollo, one of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s no-longer-so-little orphaned Black rhinos, has taken an important step in his journey back to the wild after he was recently transported from its Kaluku Neonate Nursery to its Rhino Base.

Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Rhino Base is a secure reintegration site in the heart of Tsavo National Park in Kenya. The area has high oversight and is rigorously patrolled by both ground and aerial teams. With its bush environment, intersected by winding rivers, Rhino Base is in prime rhino country, and Apollo would be right at home there.

Apollo stands out as one of the Trust’s most gruelling orphan rescues after his mother died of natural causes in Tsavo.

Nearly four years to the day after his rescue, Apollo’s graduation to Rhino Base unfolded. Fate robbed him of his mother, but his destiny to be a rhino of Tsavo remains unchanged.

“We feel very privileged to be a formative part of his life, providing him with the family he deserves, and returning him to his birthright when he is ready. While his move to Rhino Base brings him one step closer to a life in the wild, Apollo’s reintegration journey is far from complete. Over the next several years, he will establish his territory in Tsavo and eventually join its wild Black rhino population,” Sheldrick Wildlife Trust said.

In honour of Apollo’s graduation, the Trust has released a video of the tiny, squeaking baby it rescued to the big boy he has become today.

Click here to watch the video on Instagram.