Keepers' Diaries, February 2006

Nairobi Nursery Unit

The Nursery welcomed two newcomers this month, the first a female calf of about 18 months on the 2nd from Ol Pejeta Ranch in Laikipia, pitifully weak from advanced starvation and milk deprivation. She was named “Sidai” which in the Samburu language is the word for “beautiful”. Exceedingly traumatised, at first she was very “wild” and refused to take milk or rehydration throughout the night, but once the other elephants had been brought in to be with her, she began accepting the milk and since then can’t get enough of it!. Whilst the milk intake was a hopeful sign, she refused the vital electrolytes, and soon the dreaded trembling began, triggered by low blood sugar levels and resulting muscular dystrophy. She sunk into a life threatening state of collapse but fortunately Robert Carr-Hartley was at hand to immediately insert a drip into an ear vein, pending the arrival of the Vet. This kept her conscious and after the Vet had administered concentrated intravenous dextrose plus Vitamin B to stimulate appetite, with help she managed to get to her feet again. However, another relapse occurred the next morning, similarly averted by the rapid insertion of a drip into an ear vein, and this time she managed to keep standing and as the blood sugar levels were restored, so the trembling abated. After another 3 days in the Stockade, she was sufficiently strong to be allowed out with the others, now extremely gentle and amiable, despite having been a wild elephant just a few days beforehand. However, it was not until the end of the month that Sidai’s strength had built up sufficiently to enable her to rise unaided from a lying position, and with more strength, so came the usual signs of resentment, giving strangers the odd shove, something that hitherto she had been too weak to accomplish! However, this phase is to be expected, and will pass, and Sidai, like all elephant females, will become gentle and caring of the young, and close to the Keepers who replace her lost elephant family. The second newcomer this month arrived on the 7th – (the calf that was reported by the Amboseli Researchers some two weeks back, but who did not return on the rescue plane sent for him, having gone deep into a swamp with some wild friends. The next time he was spotted he was all alone, and his mother had been dead of unknown causes for some 3 weeks. Nevertheless, he was still strong enough to put up strong resistance to being captured, and the subsequent chase and overpowering of him by inexperienced Rangers for him proved a terrifying episode, which left its mark, for upon arrival in the Nursery, he was extremely aggressive, bent on killing everyone on two legs. He was named “Orok” by Cynthia Moss, the Masai word for “Black” since his family spent a lot of time amongst the dark shadows of the doum palm groves of Ol Tukai. Like Sidai, he was 18 months old, and for the next 5 days, the Keepers struggled to calm him, but having to continually scale the escape platform to avoid being pummelled to death! Fortunately, however, having watched Kora next door downing his milk with relish, Orok decided to follow suit, roughly gulping it down before retreating back into a far corner with outspread ears.