Now living wild, though he remains an integral part of our Umani herd
Current age
11 years old
Gender
Male
Rescued date
17 March 2015
Rescue location
Maasai Mara, Mara Triangle
Date of birth (estimate)
12 January 2014
Reason orphaned
Unknown
Age at rescue
14 months old (approx)
Current location
Umani Springs Reintegration Unit
The Mara Conservancy wardens and rangers had been monitoring the young calf for some time, and it had become clear to them that this abandoned baby was orphaned, as he had already been ravaged by hyenas. The fate of his herd and mother, and the reason for his abandonment, remains a mystery.
Wasting no time, and aware of the late hour Angela coordinated the rescue mindful that another night alone would leave him vulnerable to the Mara’s many predators and could prove fatal. The SWT Team was hastily scrambled from Nairobi, and in the meantime the SWT/KWS Mobile Mara Veterinary Unit and Dr. Limo headed to where the calf was last seen. With time running out, and no elephants in the area the SWT/KWS Mara Veterinary Team together with the Mara Conservancy rangers captured the approximately fourteen month old calf. This proved to be no mean task, because despite being injured he remained very strong. After a Herculean effort the team were able to restrain him and load him into the back of the Veterinary Unit land cruiser and drive him to the Serena airstrip to wait for the SWT Keepers and rescue aircraft to land.
We have named him Alamaya, which is the Maa word for 'Brave'. He was rescued not far from where little Boromoko was rescued, and has an identical face, with prominent protruding bug eyes fringed with beautiful eye lashes. He has the same loving easy nature and has settled in surprisingly fast to Nursery life. We cannot help feel that he just might be related to little Boromoko as they have a very similar and very distinctive look, and were rescued from exactly the same area.
Alamaya's story does have an extraordinary twist however. Initially we always thought Alamaya was a female, and our first reports indicated as much, but an operation on the 3rd July, three months after his rescue, was performed to help cut away scar tissue which was inhabiting Alamaya urinating properly. Early on in the operation it was discovered that Alamaya was a he, so severe were his injuries that nothing remained that could obviously indicate that. So on the 3rd of July our little she turned into a he. Details about the operation can be read in the updates section of Alamaya's profile.
The Mara Conservancy wardens and rangers had been monitoring the young calf for some time, and it had become clear to them that this abandoned baby was orphaned, as he had already been ravaged by hyenas. The fate of his herd and mother, and the reason for his abandonment, remains a mystery.
View diary updates from across all our orphan units as written by the Keepers
Ten years ago, we leapt into the unknown. Two very unique orphans had come into our care — elephants who had been permanently damaged by the cruel hand of fate.
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