THE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE
TRUST
Foster an
Orphan as a Christmas Gift
"Please help us help an orphaned elephant
by fostering one of the orphans
directly through our website
as a gift of life"
Daphne Sheldrick
Click to
see the list of orphans available for fostering
( Note: If you do not want to adopt an orphan
as a Christmas present, please go to the main fostering area instead)
A tiny newborn elephant is orphaned, often its mother and family
gunned down to serve the Ivory trade, its life support gone; any
survivors fleeing in terror; its fate now suffering and death in
hopeless and lonely isolation it cannot understand. For an elephant,
the family is all important; its very existence dependent upon its
mother's milk for the first two years of life and a life that should
span three score years and ten, equivalent to that of man. In a
perfect world that elephant life would be filled with fun and joy
through the companionship of friends and a closeknit and loving
family, whose love is pure and unconditional all the days of its
life.
In one country in Africa, Kenya, a tiny Elephant Nursery situated
in Nairobi under the auspices of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust,
overseen by Dr. Daphne Sheldrick, whose elephant experience spans a
lifetime, and with the cooperation of the Kenya Wildlife Service,
for the first time ever now offers hope for any orphaned elephant
fortunate enough to be found alive. It took Daphne Sheldrick 28
years of trial and error during the years that her husband was
Warden of Kenya's largest and most important elephant Sanctuary,
Tsavo East National Park, to perfect the milk formula and complex
husbandry necessary to rear the orphaned infant African elephants.
Today, with financial help of many caring folk world-wide, the David
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is proud to have saved what amounts to a herd;
over 30 orphaned infant calves that would otherwise have perished.
More importantly, every one of these orphans can look forward to a
quality of life in wild terms, living free in Tsavo East National
Park encompassed by their new extended orphaned family and friends
amongst the wild herds in a National Park that offers elephants the
S P A C E they need - the 8,000 square miles of pristine wilderness
that is TSAVO.
None of this would have been possible without help of many people
worldwide, for the rearing an infant elephant is an expensive and
long-term commitment during the time it is dependent upon milk
and a team of trained carers who represent the lost elephant family
and are there for the little elephant until such time as it is
comfortable amongst the wild herds and chooses to become
independent. The time involved depends entirely upon the personality
of each individual and also upon how well the elephant can recall
its elephant family, but all the orphans reared by The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust are "elephants" again and
integrated into the wild community by the age of ten, though always
in their large elephant hearts will be a corner for the specific
humans who were their family in infancy.
The Baby Elephant Foster
Parent Programme,
Via email, your gift will include:
We have made our fostering program digital,
thereby keeping admin costs down. Postage around the world is a
cumbersome administrative expense that we are now able to avoid
through the Internet. Any queries about the fostering program can be
directed to
rc-h@africaonline.co.ke
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A fostering certificate with a profile and
photograph of your adopted orphan together with a description of
the Orphans’ Project;
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An interactive map indicating where your orphan
was found and a description of the habitat and the plight of the
elephants (or Rhinos) in that particular area;
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A monthly summary highlighting events of the
previous month together with a direct link to the ‘Keepers
Diary’ for your elephant. In the diary you will be able to
access the daily calendar entries and the monthly photos. These
updates can be printed off to enable you to keep a journal
highlighting the progress of your orphan;
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Along with the update you will receive a
collectable monthly watercolor by Angela Sheldrick;
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From time-to-time, you will receive news of new
arrivals and rescues written by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick with
accompanying photographs;
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And most importantly, as one of our foster
parents, you are considered part of the DSWT team and we will be
keeping in personal contact with you as an important member of
our project.
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A truly unique and novel gift that can be enjoyed throughout
the year
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Choose an elephant orphan whose story
touches your heart and whose name appeals to you. |
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| NAMING THE ORPHANS |
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 The Trust likes to name its orphaned elephants in a
way that can identify them with their origin. The orphans come from
all corners of Kenya and from many different elephant populations, so
they are usually given place or ethnic tribal names.
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Or, Select an Orphan from the full list below:
