Now living wild, though she continues to visit us regularly
Current age
12 years old
Gender
Female
Rescued date
7 October 2013
Rescue location
Samburu, Naibunga Conservancy
Date of birth (estimate)
7 July 2012
Reason orphaned
Unknown
Age at rescue
15 months old (approx)
Current location
Living Wild
On October 6th a group of elephants approached the calf, and it was hoped that she would be reunited with her family but unfortunately the herd moved off seemingly disinterested in the lone baby.
On the 7th October The Conservancy informed the Kenya Wildlife Service about the orphan who contacted Angela Sheldrick. Ol Lentille Conservancy is on the edge of Laikipia in Northern Kenya, approximately a 1 hour 15 minute flight from Nairobi. We were informed by the Conservancy management that they would await our team and provide all the ground logistics in order to aid us in the capturing of the calf. On arrival at the Ol Lentille airstrip at 3.10 pm the team led by Peter Mbulu were immediately taken the where the elephant was, and having disembarked from the plane with a canvas stretcher, mattress, straps and ropes, and a few blankets the curious onlookers were incredulous as to how a rescue of a fairly large calf was going to be undertaken.
Our Keepers told their expectant audience to wait and watch – and so it was that the team efficiently approached the calf, were able to get close enough to it and when she charged threw the blanket over the calf’s head enabling them to grab her behind her ears, restrain and constrain her in no time at all. She was then subdued with tranquilizers to take the edge off her stress and driven back to the airstrip and loaded onto the plane. Total operation time 70 minutes!! The aircraft was airborne to Nairobi at 4.45 pm.
The young calf has been given the name Lentille and has obviously been without her family and mum for sometime. She was reluctant to take her milk, and after feeding on greens in the stockade collapsed 24 hours later. She required a drip in order to gather strength enough to get back to her feet and it was some time before she would feed adequately in order to fully regain her strength.
On October 6th a group of elephants approached the calf, and it was hoped that she would be reunited with her family but unfortunately the herd moved off seemingly disinterested in the lone baby.
View diary updates from across all our orphan units as written by the Keepers
The move of Arruba, Mashariki and Rorogoi was originally planned for the 19th of November, and the loading process went extremely smoothly on that day with the three orphans safely loaded and ready to go by 4
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