For starters, a quick keyword search for "rhinoceros AND orphan AND rehab" on Google Scholar gives some hits. First two hits listed below (there are others). You'll probably find it useful to do the same search in other databases. You can do similar searches replacing rehab with rehabilitation and with reintroduction. You can probably also find information in one of the IUCN guidelines for reintroduction. 

From Google Scholar.

[PDF] The Principles for Rehabilitation of Large Mammals (Asian elephant, Asiatic wild buffalo, Asiatic black bear and greater one-horned rhinoceros)

NVK Ashraf, R Barman, K Mainkar, B Choudhury - BACK TO THE WILD, 2005 - wti.org.in

[PDF] Rehabilitation of greater one-horned rhinoceros calves in Manas National Park, a World Heritage Site in India

R Barman, B Choudhury, NVK Ashraf… - Pachyderm ( …, 2014 - rhinoresourcecenter.com

Hi Joshua, 

Thank you for your answer and for taking the time to do the search!

Actually  I had already tried that path and performed the searches you suggested, both at google scholar, regular Google, and Web of Science. I had also read the pdfs you found, but the information is quite limited, and does not give any index on how successful the rehabilitation and subsequent reintroductions were, how many animals they have reintroduced or how such operations were performed. It is just a paragraph or two explaining what they feed to the orphans and how they release them. After that you don't know what happened to the poor orphans.

I am trying to contact the people who carry out these rehabilitation and reintroduction efforts, to see if I can get a better picture of what has been done so far.

Thank you again Joshua!

Thanks for the clarification. I do great ape rehab myself. If the literature for rhinos is anything like apes, the lack of information of success rates, follow-up monitoring, long-term success & survival that you're finding in available literature is very common. It is rare (at least with apes) to find this information in scientific papers. You might get some info in grey literature (e.g., technical reports, reports to government agencies, species action plans - again probably limited). Often practitioners & staff from range countries aren't on Research Gate - though some researchers might be. You may have already done so, but you could contact the various rehab, reintroduction, sanctuary projects directly (although they might be hesitant to provide info, again based on my experience with great ape projects). Another thought that you may have already pursued is to contact authors of papers directly and ask for more info/guidance. I did this when working on forest school guidelines for orangutans and again when working on two different projects for my PhD. I was initially intimidated by contacting established researchers, but the contacts did produce some good leads.A final thought would be to contact scientific advisory board members for organizations that oversee/monitor/advise the individual rhino reintroduction/sanctuary projects. An example is PASA for primates in Africa (Pan African Sanctuary Association). I'm not sure if similar organizations exist for rhinos.

Another problem with long-term follow-up data is that, while rehab/reintro projects may be started or contributed to by scientists, long-term care, monitoring, & evaluation often fall to less well trained local staff with limited resources & limited knowledge of &/or access to scientific/technical reporting opportunities. In many cases, particularly with orangutan rehab/reintro, the follow-up data just isn't there. Hopefully you will fare better in your search with rhinos.

Thanks so much Joshua. I have tried to contact people at rehab centers but as you said, they're hesitant on sharing the info. I have also contacted the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group and I am waiting for their reply. What I have not tried is to contact the authors of two reports that mention rehab. That is a fantastic idea! 

Thank you Joshua and good luck with your research!

Hi Maria,

They have reintroduced orphan black and white rhinos in KwaZulu-Natal, specifically from the Game Capture unit in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. I doubt they would publish such data, but maybe you could contact them to ask about their post-release success rate?

Thank you Courtney. Do you have any specific names I could address my questions to? 

Dave Druce is the ecologist of the park and should be able to direct you to the correct person at game capture

Dr Dave J. Druce

Park Ecologist (Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park)

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife

Hluhluwe Research Centre

Tel: +27 (0) 35 562 0606

Cell: +27 (0) 82 315 7249

E-mail: [email protected]

Fantastic Courtney, thank you! I will definitely contact him.