Three elephant rescues in just 3 consecutive days left us pretty shaken, bringing the total number currently in our Nairobi Nursery to 19. 2009 is turning out to be an “annus horribilis” for elephants in Kenya, and in fact, in all range States North of the Zambezi.  Dryer than normal conditions possibly due to climate change, displaced people resulting from the political mayhem that gripped the country last year, exacerbated by lay-offs due to the downturn in the global economy, and lastly but by no means least, the presence of Chinese construction workers has resulted in a massive increase in poaching for Ivory, rhino horn, and bushmeat not to mention a decrease in domestic dogs as well!

The evening of the 14th February brought another rescue alert from the Milgis Trust.  Apparently, while trying to trace 2 other lone elephant calves in the area, the Scouts came across a newborn baby that had fallen into an erosion gulley near the Keno community area.  The next morning Helen Du Fresne of the Milgis Trust flew the newborn baby to Nairobi in her small Cessna 182 aircraft.  The calf stood quietly between two Scouts in the back of her plane. As she approached Wilson Airport in Nairobi Helen requested priority as she was flying with an elephant in the back of her small plane. The Air Traffic Control immediately cleared the skies, rather shocked by the unusual request! On landing numerous people from all over Wilson poured out of their buildings to view the tiny baby.   The elephant then followed his rescuers through the Customs building, delighting all on-lookers and arrived in the Nursery in fine fettle just after noon.

Yet again, great credit must be given to the Milgis Trust and the sensitization work they have done amongst that community of Samburu pastoral tribesmen, the rescuers of Lesanju, the mini Matriarch of the Nursery elephants.  The brother of the late Chief Lesanju, after whom our orphan is named, was one of the two Scouts that brought little “Milgis” to the Nursery.  She was newborn, soft, pink and trusting and we prayed that she had managed to take her mother’s first Colostrum milk which gives a baby the vital immunity to cope with life out of the womb and which can only be absorbed during the first 48 hours of life.

Sadly, however, quite obviously she hadn’t, for very soon diarrheoa set in, along with laboured breathing and a wet trunk, indicating pneumonia. We were left now with just one option, apart from the usual measures taken to try and contain the loose stools.  We needed the plasma taken from a healthy elephant, and needed it urgently.  

Anaesthetizing a healthy Nursery elephant, in order to try and save one which may not make it, is always a very tough dilemma, because the anaesthetic brings with it the factor of risk to a healthy donor.  With this is the knowledge that unless one does this, the colostrums deficient baby will most certainly die.  We chose Sinya as the donor because she had come in older than the other Nursery inmates, and was not among the four set to be moved to Voi the very next day, namely Wasessa, Shimba, Mzima and Siria, who would have to face not only a grueling journey on horrendous diversions in order to reach their destination, but would then have to adjust to a new life during the hottest time of the year in Tsavo.  Sinya emerged none the worse for the ordeal, and that was an enormous relief for us all.

We now had a 24 hour wait for the separation of the plasma from Sinya’s blood, which was spinned at Karen Hospital.  Meanwhile we kept baby Milgis alive on a Dextrose drip, and were cautiously optimistic when her stool seemed to be stabilizing, followed by the disappointment of the flood gates opening again, draining all her reserves.  However, her little heart was still beating when the plasma arrived and was infused into an ear vein during the morning of Saturday 21st February.  We all held our breath and prayed for a miracle, at the same time hardly believing that baby Milgis in her weakened state might survive the night.  However, she did, and again we were cautiously optimistic that a miracle would take place, but sadly she died that evening, the same day that we lost Muti, and the day after losing Loimugi!

Three elephant rescues in just 3 consecutive days left us pretty shaken, bringing the total number currently in our Nairobi Nursery to 19.   2009 is turning out to be an “annus horribilis” for elephants in Kenya, and in fact, in all range States North of the Zambezi.  Dryer than normal conditions possibly due to climate change, displaced people resulting from the political mayhem that gripped the country last year, exacerbated by lay-offs due to the downturn in the global economy, and lastly but by no means least, the presence of Chinese construction workers has resulted in a massive increase in poaching for Ivory, rhino horn, and bushmeat not to mention a decrease in domestic dogs as well!