LIMPOPO – A two-month-old rhino was hacked at least 18 times on the face earlier this week after poachers targetted the baby’s mother for her horn.

Eyewitness News cannot reveal the park where the incident occurred due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

The baby rhino apparently approached the poachers after they had dehorned its mother, when the attack occurred.

The poachers are believed to have used axes and machetes to keep the calf at bay.

Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Karen Trendler says the baby rhino is recovering.

“She is doing amazingly well. It is actually a miracle. She is very small and she was injured very badly and she still has the panga wounds on her face.”

The female calf is being cared for at a special orphanage for baby rhinos near Mokopane, 250 kilometres north of Pretoria.