Gender
Female
Rescued date
6 September 2017
Rescue location
Tsavo Ecosystem, Tsavo East National Park
Date of birth (estimate)
6 November 2016
Reason orphaned
Drought related
Age at rescue
9 months old (approx)
Date of passing
26 June 2021
There they found a young calf of approximately 10 months old, limp and lifeless lying in the unforgiving sun, surrounded by parched earth and little else. Tsavo’s southern sector is witnessing a terrible drought with the herds that chose to remain behind and not travel to other areas of the Park struggling, and this really indicates how pivotal the decisions of a matriarch can be, as much of Tsavo and Tsavo West remains with abundant food, but south of the Galana River, particularly south of the Voi River, it is bleak because the rains in this area of the Park all but failed in April and May. The toll has been heavy with approximately 150 elephants dying from this drought.
It was swift action that saved this little baby’s life, but for a good 12 hours she lay lifeless despite the IV fluids and all the emergency support she was given. While in the field Dr. Poghon attended to her before carefully placing her on a canvas stretcher and transporting her the 40 minute drive to the Voi stockades where she continued to receive care in the shade of a stockade enclosure while the team waited for the rescue plane to arrive. We wasted no time in arranging things from the Nairobi end, sending a team down to Wilson airport in Nairobi to catch the charter flight the moment we were first alerted of her situation. The flight takes 1 ½ hours and in cases like this every minute counts. By the time the team arrived her condition had not changed, and a limp body was loaded onto the plane, with only the soft breath from her trunk indicating any sign of life. The IV fluids continued to be infused into her body throughout the flight and then the journey from Nairobi’s Wilson airport to Nairobi National Park. By the time she was placed on the soft hay of her prepared stable at the Trust’s Nairobi Nursery her core temperature was ice cold, with her blood pressure extremely low. We tried to raise her to her feet but she was simply too weak. Her trunk lay limp, curled and lifeless and while Angela (Sheldrick) rubbed her body to help blood circulation under the piled blankets her eyes were open, and it was in that instant that all present could sense her desire to live. The time was around 2.30pm and for the rest of the afternoon we continued to hydrate her, and medicate her in a last ditch attempt to energize and kick start her ravaged body.
There they found a young calf of approximately 10 months old, limp and lifeless lying in the unforgiving sun, surrounded by parched earth and little else. Tsavo’s southern sector is witnessing a terrible drought with the herds that chose to remain behind and not travel to other areas of the Park struggling, and this really indicates how pivotal the decisions of a matriarch can be, as much of Tsavo and Tsavo West remains with abundant food, but south of the Galana River, particularly south of the Voi River, it is bleak because the rains in this area of the Park all but failed in April and May. The toll has been heavy with approximately 150 elephants dying from this drought.
View diary updates from across all our orphan units as written by the Keepers
It is with profound sadness and disbelief that we share the news that Maisha died on the afternoon of Saturday, 26th June. Her passing was wholly unexpected and we are still wrapping our minds around it. How do you put into words something that defies explanation? Closure can temper the pain of a cruel twist of fate, but with Maisha, we don’t have that. In nearly half a century of working with elephants, both wild and orphaned, we have never seen something like what unfolded with her.