Had a leisurely morning and left the Hotel at 10AM. Arrived at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust at the edge of Nairobi just before 11AM. This organization is committed to the conservation, preservation, and protection of wildlife. They are recognized experts in the rescue and rearing of elephant and rhino orphans until they can be released back into the wild. It is a monumental task requiring amazing dedication and skill. The BBC has filmed its award winning program the Elephant Chronicles here. The program follows the lives of elephants from their initial rescue and rehabilitation to their release and eventual integration back into a wild herd.
The baby elephants have horrific backgrounds that brought them to this place. Many have been hurt, seen their families hunted down and killed, or were injured or ill and finally fell behind their family and had their mothers make the agonizing decision to stay with the safety of the herd and leave the tiny baby behind. The babies then survived a few horrific days alone without their families while hyenas chewed off their tails and they wandered alone and afraid. The Kenyan Wildlife Service often was the first to spot them and the Sheldrick Trust was called into to rescue them.
A baby elephant can only last about 5 days without nursing so many of the babies were often in terrible shape when they were brought in. The baby spends much of its time wandering under the larger members of the herd. It is here, beneath the bellies of its family that the little one finds protection from the elements and an all-important source of shade. Without this protection from the intense equatorial sun, many of the rescued babies had lost parts of their ears to severe sunburn.
Even once rescued and its wounds and physical needs of formula and shelter are attended to, the baby is still at extreme risk for the psychological needs of the babies must also be met. Having undergone extreme emotional stress, the babies often go into a deep depression. To counter this and help give the elephants the sense of family they require, the handles are constantly with them to provide this critical emotional support.
We looked into the stalls where the babies were kept at night. Each stall had a clean hay bed for the baby and a mattress for the handler who spends literally 24 hours a day tending for their charge. Handlers are rotated frequently so the babies don’t become too attached to a single individual. There is only a single one-hour-long public feeding per day, which we witnessed. The rest of the time is spent in sleep, feedings, and walks with their handlers through Nairobi National Park where they will eventually be released to join the wild herds there. There will come a day about two years off, when the little orphan decides it would rather live with its wild family. Each baby in its own time determines when it is finally time to leave its human family. The staff said it was not unusual for adult elephants to return to visit years after their orphanage experience. The elephants really never forget the gentle care and kindness provided by their surrogate family here.
For more information on this amazing program go to: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
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