A man has captured incredible close-up footage of an endangered black rhino.
A video shared by Reilly Travers shows every little detail of the beautiful animal as it opens its mouth for food.
The 39-year-old wildlife conservationist is ‘father’ to the six-year-old rhino Tafika and often shares images and clips of her to his social media, as well as other animals, including elephants and donkeys.
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Reilly owns Imire, a sanctuary for wildlife and breeding space for black rhinos.
Tafika is the third generation rhino to be born here and now she is the star of a breathtaking video.
After Reilly shows her the food in his hand, Tafika opens her mouth wide and moves towards the camera.
“She enjoys the attention,” Reilly, who is from Zimbabwe, told What’s The Jam.
“The video you see is much more than just a special moment, it’s a brief look at the trust our animals have for us – a trust that has taken a very long time to build.
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“This was one of those magical moments that life gives you and reminds you of what your purpose is on this planet.
“It was nothing short of a privilege, she has the most incredible nature, she is calm and gentle.”
Reilly shared the clip to his Instagram page, (@reilly .travers), where he has over 91,300 followers.
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It has attracted over 25.8 million views, 673,000 likes and 1,900 comments from amazed followers.
Mitchell said: “Just give him the damn food he waiting.”
Jesus added: “That breath HAS to smell prehistoric.”
Someone else commented: “Bro need some water.”
Charmaine wrote: “Wow.”
Another fan noted: “He just wanted his food bro.”
Anak’s reaction was: “Epic.”
Someone else remarked: “A real unicorn.”
Sadly, due to the immense value of their horns, black rhinos have been poached almost to extinction.
Reilly added: “We have a very strong breeding program where black rhinos have been successfully released into reserves and conservancies around southern Africa.
“We are so proud to have produced many baby black rhinos on Imire that have been put back into the wild in parks in Zimbabwe and we will continue to do so.”
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