In October 1999, poachers killed a female elephant. They took her ivory and left her tiny, defenceless daughter to a certain fate.

But then, a miracle saved Yatta's life. A group of labourers were working nearby and heard bellows. Investigating the noise, they found a weeks-old calf standing near the tuskless carcass. The team handled the situation heroically. They escorted the little orphan across the Mtito tributary, loaded her into an old Land Rover, and drove her across the crocodile-infested Athi River to the nearest airstrip, where she was flown to our Nairobi Nursery.

That is how Yatta's story began. After spending her infancy at the Nursery, she graduated to our Voi Reintegration Unit. In 2004, however, Yatta's life took a different turn. We were in the process of establishing our second reintegration unit, located in the northern wilds of Tsavo. Ithumba's success would hinge on its inaugural herd, which would set the foundations for all the orphans who would follow in their footsteps. We selected four very special females to serve as the foundational herd: Mulika, Nasalot, Kinna, and Yatta.

With her deeply rooted maternal instincts and leadership acumen, Yatta naturally took the mantle of matriarch. Over the past two decades, she has become an invaluable and much-loved friend, tutor, and mother, successfully integrating with wild herds, forming strong bonds with the orphans, and raising her own family.

Yatta became a mother in January 2012. Starting what has now become a firm tradition among our Ithumba ex-orphans, she returned to the stockades within hours of giving birth, bursting with pride and eager to introduce her bundle of joy to the men who raised her. We named her daughter Yetu, which means 'ours' in Swahili.

It turned out to be a fitting name, because Yatta invited us to be part of her daughter's life from the very beginning. Although she is an entirely wild elephant, Yetu has always felt at home among the unconventional human-elephant family who raised her mother. In the following years, Yatta brought three more babies into the world: Yoyo, born in 2017; Yogi, born in 2021; and Yara, born in March this year.

Just like her mother, Yetu has always been an excellent big sister and nanny. When she gave birth to a baby of her own in 2022, we were delighted to be invited into this big milestone: Just like our ex-orphans, Yetu made the pilgrimage 'home' to introduce us to her brand-new baby boy. We named him Yebo.

Although Yetu has only ever known a wild life, she has always had a deep connection to the human family who raised her mother. She was as excited as any ex-orphan to introduce Yebo to Benjamin and the other Keepers, proudly parading him around Ithumba. She has continued to visit regularly over the years — sometimes with her mother, sometimes without.

Through these visits, we realised that Yetu was expecting again — and on 7th December 2025, we finally got to meet her newest baby! First thing in the morning, Kinna, Kama, Kaia, Kito, Wendi, Wiva, Wema, Wimbi, Yatta, Yetu, Yoyo, Yogi, Yebo, and Yara arrived with a special addition. The group had come to introduce the newest member of our family, Yetu's baby girl. We named her Yasmin.

Every time we rescue an orphan, we think of all the possibilities the future can hold. Little Yatta's life nearly ended just as it was beginning, but some compassionate men changed the course of her history. And now, because of that life saved, Yatta has given Tsavo two more generations of elephants.