The 2022 drought brought an influx of orphaned elephants into our care. Our Voi Reintegration Unit, which is usually a destination for older orphans as they advance in their rewilding journey, became a nursery of sorts. Given their weakened state and urgent need for care, many older calves rescued from Tsavo East skipped the Nursery and went directly to Voi instead. We called this special 'class' the Voi Kids.

On the afternoon of 23rd August 2022, our pilot was flying a patrol along the Voi River Circuit when he spotted a young elephant, alone and in poor condition. She was picking at the dry, thorny bush, trying to find something to eat, in the same area where fellow ‘Voi Kid’ Kenderi had been discovered the day before.

It turned out to be a very challenging rescue. While she was thin and very clearly an orphan, the calf still had strength to spare. She dodged our first attempt to capture her and sprinted towards the sandy Voi River. The team regrouped and made another plan. Fanning out around her, they managed to throw ropes around her and put a towel over her head to reduce stimuli.

Then came the next challenge: Carrying a three-year-old calf along the dry riverbed, up the bank, where a vehicle could access her. It was slow going, but finally they delivered her to the back of the car. By the time she arrived at Voi, she was spent. We managed to stabilise her by plying her with drips for several hours.

Seri, as we named the calf, proved to be extremely aggressive. She wanted to charge at everyone and everything in her periphery — passing Keepers, flying birds, bales of lucerne — nothing escaped her ire. As we must do with flighty rescues, we gave Seri plenty of time to decompress in her stockade. Slowly slowly, she started to come out of her shell and embrace her new home. On one of her first mornings out with the herd, she calmly lined up alongside Ashanti, Hildana, Kilulu, Akina, and Kenderi to munch on range cubes. The Keepers were happy to see how relaxed she was becoming with her new friends.

Interestingly, Seri has always been very comfortable around bulls. Not long after her rescue, ex-orphan Laikipia visited the dependent herd. Although he is more than two decades Seri's senior, she was unfazed by the enormous bull — in fact, she stood between his forelegs, half-heartedly attempting to suckle from him! Today, she can often be found alongside the likes of Hildana, Kilulu, and even Ndotto during his visits home.

Seri shines most in the mud bath. She is a real water baby and loves to swim, wallow, splash, and bask. She is also always late to everything — milk bottles, mud baths, bedtime — simply because she is so relaxed and cannot be rushed! To compare the frenetic, gaunt calf we rescued with the laid-back beauty we see today is a triumph indeed.