Elephants constantly remind us that miracles are possible. However, among all the orphans we have rescued over the years, no one's story is more miraculous than Murera.

Murera came to us a broken elephant. The year was 2012, the height of the then poaching crisis in Kenya. On the morning of 21st February, Piers Winkworth of Offbeat Safaris Tented Camp in Meru National Park spotted a lone elephant calf who appeared to have a broken leg. Camp guides confirmed that they had also seen this orphan over the past few days, always alone and in a very bad way. KWS Rangers had received a report about her some three weeks prior, but subsequently had been unable to trace her.

Piers alerted us about the orphan, sending along photographs so we could assess her size and age. He then drove to KWS Headquarters to get permission to rescue her. Meanwhile, we flew a team of Keepers up to Meru. Upon landing, everyone gathered at the orphan’s location. By late afternoon, the calf was en route to the Nursery. Everyone was taken aback by her condition: She had trodden on an elephant spike trap, which ravaged her hind leg and left her with deep, poisoned wounds. While struggling in vain to keep up with her herd, she must have fallen and dislocated her leg joints, because her entire hind area was debilitated. Her little forehead was etched in pain, a heartbreaking reminder of the trauma unfolding within. The memories of what humans had inflicted upon her was still fresh in her mind, and despite being severely incapacitated, she was very wild and rebuffed all help.

Murera’s situation was so dire that every vet recommended she be euthanised. However, Daphne saw a sliver of hope and insisted that we fight for her life. The Keepers also recognised Murera’s will to survive and galvanised to heal her. As Peter, one of the Nursery’s senior Keepers, remembered, “Murera was so sick when she arrived in the Nursery. We had to make the decision whether or not to put her quietly out of her pain, but she had fought so hard to survive for so long, so we all decided to give her a last chance.”

The day after her rescue, Murera collapsed and had to be put on life support. This gave us a chance to take a closer look at the extent of her injuries and clean out her wounds. For a long time, she couldn’t put any weight on her hind legs. All the Nursery orphans would crowd around her stable, giving her rumbles of love and encouragement.

Murera was a hard-won miracle, Peter recalled, “At the beginning, it was very hard for all of us. Murera required non-stop care. We couldn’t sedate her, as this would weaken her more, but we needed to clean her wounds daily and even support her much of the time, until she could put weight on her legs again. At one point she gave up and stopped feeding, but we persisted and tried to encourage her to eat and showed her our love.”

Their persistence paid off. Step by step, Murera became whole again. Everyone rejoiced when she took her first tentative step, progressing to short forays around the compound and eventually longer walks into the forest. Around the same time that Murera came into our care, we rescued an orphan named Sonje who had similarly lifelong injuries. Together, they healed.

Murera and Sonje emerged as very capable mini-matriarchs of our Nursery herd. Nurturing and protective in equal measure, they were equally capable of tending to a new rescue as they were of chasing off a ‘scary’ wild animal the orphans encountered in the park. It has been incredibly gratifying to see Murera’s transformation — the terrified, broken elephant we rescued is no longer, replaced by a stoic-yet-happy matriarch who is beloved and respected by all.