Heartbreaking Video Shows Baby Rhino Trying to Awaken its Dead Mother Killed by Poachers

Nothing can be more devastating than a child losing its mother, be it among humans or animals. Thanks to rampant poaching across the world, hundreds of animals are orphaned each year thanks to man's greed and are often left to fend for themselves or die, without the protection and nurture of their mothers. Now, highlighting the plight of orphaned animals, a heart-wrenching video of a baby rhinoceros trying to awaken its dead mother killed by poachers has gone viral on social media.

The video, shared on Twitter by Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan, has started being widely circulated on social media and was filmed last year in South Africa. The video shows the mother rhino lying on the ground, lifeless, while her baby tries to wake her up desperately, even trying to suckle her at one point of time.

According to Kaswan, the mother was killed for her horn and the baby was left to fend for herself.

The voice of a man can be heard in the background revealing that baby is desperately trying to suckle some milk and wake the mother despite no response, even adding, "I can’t understand this. This is horrific to see."

The video, that has gone viral on social media also saw actor Swara Bhaskar reetweeting it with sad emojis.

One user wrote, "Heart wrenching. Humans are the only reason of creating imbalance of this world and this world will end only humans. Definitely Earth knows how to heal herself."

Another user wrote, "Ok that’s the most devastating image that will not leave me for a long time. That poor baby, imagine its feelings.....Wish I hadn’t seen it and I only watched 3 seconds of it."

Here's what others wrote:

Once prevalent throughout Eurasia and Africa, very few rhinos survive outside national parks and reserves due to persistent poaching and habitat loss over the last few decades. The Javan and Sumatran rhinos are critically endangered, while the Indian rhino is deemed a vulnerable species. Meanwhile, in Africa, while white rhinos are making a slow and steady comeback in protected sanctuaries, the western black rhinos and northern white rhinos have recently gone extinct.

The video circulating on social media just goes on to show the precarious position such mammoth beasts are in and is a stark reminder of the devastation human greed can cause.