Now living wild, though he continues to visit us regularly
Current age
9 years old
Gender
Male
Rescued date
25 April 2016
Rescue location
Amboseli Ecosystem, Amboseli Environs
Date of birth (estimate)
1 January 2016
Reason orphaned
Stuck in mud
Age at rescue
3 months old (approx)
Current location
Ithumba Reintegration Unit
He was first discovered by a community member who happened to have a relative working as a sergeant within the Big Life Ranger force; he contacted Big Life alerting them of this baby’s fate in the hope that he could be saved. This all took place at 5.00pm in the afternoon and how long he had been stricken in the mud was not clear, but later information suggested as long as 48 hours. Big Life ops room immediately deployed two vehicles to the scene, with the plan of assisting the calf out of the mud in the hope the mother would return later, but when the two ranger teams arrived the calf had freed itself and was wandering alone.
It was now 7pm and getting darker by the minute so the teams quickly started to track the calf. By 8pm they had lost the tracks as the mud covering the calf had started to dry up and stopped leaving an easy to follow trail. So the two teams decided to split up and search in two extended lines in the two directions they thought the calf had most likely headed. At around 9pm one team picked the calf up in the cars headlights, he was younger than originally thought and there was little chance he would have the energy and knowledge needed to find his mum which would also depend on the mother returning. The team watched him for another hour and then made the decision to catch him and keep him overnight for the SWT to collect the next morning. Arrangements were made for a room to be made available and the ranger whose brother reported the calf in the first place stayed with him all night in Ol Tokai. Even though he was a big calf in good condition he appeared very weak, and not particularly strong having been without milk and water for a very long time.
He was placed on a saline drip while the plane waited on the ground in Amboseli, avoiding zero visibility conditions in Nairobi as the rain continued to bucket down.
He was first discovered by a community member who happened to have a relative working as a sergeant within the Big Life Ranger force; he contacted Big Life alerting them of this baby’s fate in the hope that he could be saved. This all took place at 5.00pm in the afternoon and how long he had been stricken in the mud was not clear, but later information suggested as long as 48 hours. Big Life ops room immediately deployed two vehicles to the scene, with the plan of assisting the calf out of the mud in the hope the mother would return later, but when the two ranger teams arrived the calf had freed itself and was wandering alone.
View diary updates from across all our orphan units as written by the Keepers
The latest addition to our Ithumba extended family arrived in the evening hours of Tuesday, 24th September 2024. We are deeply touched that Chaimu chose to return home for this milestone, giving birth in our midst.
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