Now living wild, though she continues to visit us regularly
Current age
9 years old
Gender
Female
Rescued date
30 October 2016
Rescue location
Tsavo Ecosystem, Tsavo East NP
Date of birth (estimate)
18 May 2016
Reason orphaned
Drought related
Age at rescue
5 months old (approx)
Current location
Ithumba Reintegration Unit
She looked in a desperate state, totally unresponsive and seemingly just moments away from dying. Given the parched drought-stricken landscape resulting in a lack of food anywhere close to water, the elephant herds were left with painful heartbreaking decisions - having to leave weakened loved ones who were unable to keep up so that the rest of the herd could travel far enough to find life sustaining browse, This calf was simply too weak to continue, and was one such candidate.
Once our teams arrived on the scene, she was cooled down and shaded from the unforgiving sun whilst a lifesaving IV drip was prepared for her after which she was loaded into the waiting Landcruiser and driven to the stockades where more treatment could be administered while the team awaited the arrival at the Voi Park airstrip of the Rescue Plane from Nairobi. To begin with the calf hardly stirred, but slowly she came to life and then hope was restored. She was immediately fed water by mouth which cooled her down. In the meantime Angela Sheldrick had prepared everything at the Nursery for her arrival, and a team of Keepers was dispatched to board the plane. Everyone worked rapidly at the other end to ensure a speedy turn around while she was again placed on IV fluids for the duration of the flight to Nairobi, which would involve approximately 1 1/2 hours.
She looked in a desperate state, totally unresponsive and seemingly just moments away from dying. Given the parched drought-stricken landscape resulting in a lack of food anywhere close to water, the elephant herds were left with painful heartbreaking decisions - having to leave weakened loved ones who were unable to keep up so that the rest of the herd could travel far enough to find life sustaining browse, This calf was simply too weak to continue, and was one such candidate.
View diary updates from across all our orphan units as written by the Keepers
A new little nymph just flitted into northern Tsavo. First-time mum Naisula — an orphan we rescued, raised, and reintegrated back into the wild — has given birth to a beautiful baby girl!
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