Gender
Female
Rescued date
2 April 2012
Rescue location
Unknown
Date of birth (estimate)
2 February 2012
Reason orphaned
Trapped in a well
Age at rescue
1 month old (approx)
Date of passing
24 April 2012
The Elephant Mother and the herd had gone to drink at this Cattle Well, and had obviously struggled hard to rescue the stricken calf but more than likely left hurriedly, panicking when herders brought their cattle to drink at the well. The Rescue, coordinated by Rauni Munene, Warden of Maralal Station, was led by Sgt. Lekishe and Larimado three Rangers who managed to extract the calf from the well. They then surrounded the baby and slowly walked the calf back to their camp with any evidence of her herd and elephants in the area long gone. By this stage it was becoming late in the day and it was clear there would not be the time for an aircraft to leave Nairobi and reach there before nightfall, so her KWS rescuers resigned themselves to the fact that they would be in for an extremely restless night.
The tiny calf was clearly distressed bellowing for her lost family and did not sleep a wink, neither did her rescuers. The Rescue plane left early on the 9th (Easter Monday) and the calf, a 2 month old female, was safely back at the Nursery by noon.
The first night was unsettled with Maralal bellowing much of the night, and Sities and Naipoki bellowing back. In a stable close to Kihari she eventually settled. This continued for a couple of nights but now she understands the routine and the memory of her lost family seems to have dimmed.
The Elephant Mother and the herd had gone to drink at this Cattle Well, and had obviously struggled hard to rescue the stricken calf but more than likely left hurriedly, panicking when herders brought their cattle to drink at the well. The Rescue, coordinated by Rauni Munene, Warden of Maralal Station, was led by Sgt. Lekishe and Larimado three Rangers who managed to extract the calf from the well. They then surrounded the baby and slowly walked the calf back to their camp with any evidence of her herd and elephants in the area long gone. By this stage it was becoming late in the day and it was clear there would not be the time for an aircraft to leave Nairobi and reach there before nightfall, so her KWS rescuers resigned themselves to the fact that they would be in for an extremely restless night.
On the 16th of October 2015 we were called about a young female elephant found trapped and abandoned down a water well near Maralal in Northern Kenya