16th November 2005, and an S.O.S. from our SWT/KWS Ziwani Anti-Poaching Team Leader operating in Tsavo West National Park, that he had received a report the day before that a young elephant had been in amongst a herd of cows for the past eight days. The Anti-Poaching Team located the elephant at 11.00 am., still in amongst the herd of cattle, at a place called “Challa” (which means “Source of the Volcanic River”). At the request of the herdsmen who had reported his presence, the elephant orphan has been named “Challa”.

In attendance with Challa throughout the night was Misheck, one of our longest serving Keepers, who has a mysterious magic when it comes to handling any elephant. Sure enough, he worked his magic overnight, and first thing in the morning Daphne emerged to find the little elephant pressed close to him, having taken his bottles of weak milk formula during the night, and all the other elephants at the door of his Stockade to welcome and greet him! It was a very touching scene. Daphne made cooked oatmeal balls laced with desiccated coconut for him, and these proved a huge hit. The new arrival couldn’t get enough of them, following his Keepers around, pleading for more. However, being a starvation case, it is necessary to proceed with caution in the beginning, and not ask too much of a digestive tract that has been deprived of essential nutrients for so long. As the established orphans all left him to go into the Park forest, as they do every day, little Challa cried, desperate to accompany the new elephant family he had just found. However we felt it was a bit too soon to risk letting him out The next day he joined the nursery orphans. Rapsu has not been terribly friendly to him, we think because he is holding a grudge about being displaced from his stockade by Challa, but a special friendship is already forming between Zurura and Challa – and they do come from the same area so could well know each other from their wild life.Challa is now a happy and healthy ex-orphan living in the area surrounding Ithumba Hill where he was successfully reintegrated into the wild from the stockades there. He does visit the Keepers there from time to time, often in the company of other ex-orphans.