During mealtime, these eager elephant calves require more than just a pint of milk to satisfy their hunger – they need gallons. Unfortunately, each one of these babies lost their parents to the cruel methods of poaching – either by gun or snare.
Fortunately, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust stepped in and rescued them from various parts of Kenya. Now located just 30 minutes outside of Nairobi, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is committed to providing care for these precious creatures with the ultimate goal of returning them to their natural habitat.
The Nairobi Elephant Nursery in Kenya has provided a home for a group of fortunate orphan elephant cubs. Sadly, the elephant species has become endangered due to the rising prevalence of ivory poaching. This year has seen a surge in the number of orphaned elephants, caused by the increased poaching activity. One contributing factor to this trend may be the Convention for Trade in Endangered Species’ decision to allow China and Japan to purchase 108 tons of ivory from South African stockpiles. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, in charge of the orphanage, believes that there is a connection between legal ivory sales and the growing number of newly orphaned elephant calves.
The elephants seem to enjoy their feeding time the most.
Kenia, a calf in the care of Dame Daphne and her staff, receives an additional serving of milk before bedtime. According to Dame Daphne, legal auctions of ivory have been linked to an increase in elephant poaching, and she estimates that this year’s number of elephant deaths in Africa has risen by almost 45% compared to last year. For over 50 years, Dame Daphne and her team have been working to protect Africa’s wildlife. She notes that at the beginning of 2008, the Nairobi Nursery had hand-reared a total of 75 infant elephants.
It appears that the baby elephants who are without their mothers desire companionship from humans.
Oh my, what chaos! A baby elephant adores playing football. But in the year 2008, they managed to rescue and care for more than 90 orphaned elephants. Sadly, around 55 orphaned elephants have succumbed to illness and trauma throughout the years, bringing the total number of elephants that have been under their care to roughly 150. To ensure the elephants’ safety and comfort, each one has a keeper who shares their stable and sleeps alongside them.
Daphne’s grandkids, Taru and Roan, have grown up with elephants that resemble Babar the Elephant in real-life.
Dame Daphne Sheldrick, along with her late husband David, established an orphanage for elephants. Her daughter Angela Sheldrick and grandsons Roan Carr-Hartley (8) and Taru Carr-Hartley (10) also contribute to this noble cause. The adorable elephants in the orphanage are given a unique formula milk every three hours, day and night, until they reach three years of age. After that, they move to a “rehabilitation facility” situated in the Tsavo National Park to learn how to survive in the wild and rejoin their elephant herds.
