Her story with us began on 20th January 2026, when SWT pilot Neville Sheldrick embarked on an aerial patrol with a singular mission: to locate an orphaned elephant. The day before, the Kenya Wildlife Service had spotted her near Roaring Rocks in Tsavo West National Park, alone and in very poor condition.

Flying slowly overhead, Neville soon managed to spot her. She cut a pitiful figure, skin and bones, with curled ears and hollow cheeks. It was clear that she had been on her own for some time.

Even in her compromised state, at nearly three years old, she was a not-insignificant size. Our team raced to the scene, but they knew it would be a huge undertaking to rescue her. When she heard them approaching, she took off — and thus ensued a full-tilt marathon through the thick bush. Several kilometres later, Roan and Matt finally managed to restrain her.

The orphan was too large to fit inside a normal field vehicle, so we called our largest pick-up truck. It was still a tight squeeze, but we managed to secure her inside the bed and transport her to Kilaguni Airstrip, where a plane was waiting to fly her to Nairobi. However, it soon became evident that she was too big to fit in an aircraft. Instead, we transported her by road to our Kaluku Unit. In honour of her origins, we named her Sibu, after the river where she was rescued.

Only once Sibu arrived at Kaluku did we understand the gravity of her situation. Her perilous condition was an immediate worry, as she was riddled with worms, emaciated, and dehydrated. Even more nefarious, however, was the penetrating wound in her scapula. Unfortunately, this is an injury we have seen many times before, though rarely on an elephant so young: she had been speared.

After her rescue, Sibu was too weak to risk anaesthesia that same day. We let her rest overnight, plying her with fluids, greens, and nutritious supplements. The following morning, Dr Lawi darted her in her stockade and conducted a full examination.

The findings were sobering. Sibu had a deep, septic spear wound on her right shoulder. The spear had pierced through the blade of the scapula. The team thoroughly cleaned the wound with water, flushed it with hydrogen peroxide, and then infused it with tincture of iodine. Once fully treated, the wound was packed with antibiotic pessaries and green clay, then sealed with a topical antibiotic. Before being revived, Sibu also received antibiotics and anti-inflammatories to help manage her pain and expedite healing.

Sibu's recovery was slow and steady — but she had a very special friend travelling on the same path as her. A few weeks before she arrived, we rescued an orphan named Lamuu. Like Sibu, Lamuu came to us severely injured by the human hand. She had got caught in a snare, which left her with a terrible wound encircling her foot.

Given their shared experiences and similar ages, Sibu and Lamuu became instant best friends. They were put in neighbouring stockades and spent their early days cocooned in the compound, taking each day one tender step at a time as their injuries healed. As the weeks passed and they began to improve, their world expanded from bed rest to small jaunts around the compound, before they finally joined the rest of the Kaluku herd out in the bush.

Sibu is the eldest member of our Kaluku herd, but she has no interest in being the matriarch. She is a no-nonsense girl who prefers Korbessa to take the lead — despite that fact that Korbessa is quite a bit younger than her. Instead, Sibu spends her days diligently browsing with Lamuu or having a spectacular time in the swimming pool. As the Keepers observe, she's overtaken Korbessa as the swimming star — immediately after finishing her milk, she dives into the water and starts splashing around.

Another quirk about Sibu is that she has refused to drink from a bottle from day one. Instead, she takes her milk from her own personal bucket. One of the Keepers stands guard to protect her from pilfering trunks — but sometimes, greedy Korbessa manages to thwart her bodyguards and sneak a sip or two. Never a drama queen, Sibu happily shares the dregs with Korbessa.

When we rescued Sibu, she was in such a bad way that we worried whether she would survive the night. Today, only a faint scar on her shoulder hints at the ordeal she overcame. This sweet elephant now has her whole life's journey ahead of her, with her new family by her side.