A group of knitting nanas from Teesside have sent a handmade blanket to Africa to help a baby rhino recover after it was attacked by hyenas.

Residents of Hazelgrove Court Care Home in the Victorian seaside town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, worked together to produce the multicoloured quilt for three-week-old Hercules.

The rhinoceros was rescued by an animal sanctuary in South Africa after it suffered fractures, crush injuries and infected wounds in an attack by hyenas.

Aided by the warmth provided by the blanket, Hercules is expected to make a full recovery.

The care home’s “Knitting Nannas” group spent several months producing a number of blankets for the charity Blankets for Baby Rhinos.

These were sent more than 5,000 miles to the Care For Wild Rhino Sanctuary in Barberton Nature Reserve, in the Mpumalanga province.

Hercules was one of the fortunate beneficiaries of their generosity.