Sosian
Has fully embraced his wild life in Tsavo East National Park
About Sosian
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Current age
25 years old
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Gender
Male
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Rescued date
17 July 2002
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Rescue location
Laikipia, Sosian Ranch
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Date of birth (estimate)
1 February 2000
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Reason orphaned
Poaching
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Age at rescue
2 years old (approx)
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Current location
Living Wild
Adopt Sosian for yourself, or as a gift
Sosian's rescue
A new orphan called Sosian arrived in the Nairobi Nursery on the 17 of July 2002.A 2 ½ year old elephant who had a week previously been spotted wandering around on his own from the air, but no one was too concerned at the time as there were a number of elephants in the area and it was felt that he would more than likely assimilate into one of those herds. A week later a mounted security patrol on Sosian Ranch in the Rumuruti district of Kenya sighted what was obviously the same baby elephant lying underneath a tree with what seemed like a very distended stomach. They alerted the ranch managers and a rescue team was dispatched.
They managed to secure this young calf, an impressive feat given the size of him. No one knows the reason for Sosian being orphaned, or the whereabouts of his mother, dead or alive, so to this day it remains a mystery.![]()
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Mike Seaton, like so many times previously, came to the rescue and dispatched his Cessna Grand Caravan along with a team from The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and a KWS vet, to collect the orphan. No one was prepared for the size of this elephant, as previous reports had said the orphan was “the size of a goat”. On arrival our team were taken to where Sosian was being held, and then faced the daunting task of loading the sedated calf onto a landcruiser to transport him to the airstrip, followed by the near impossible task of lifting the 500 + kilos of calf into the plane, and then the unloading and transportation to our Nairobi Nursery.![]()
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On arrival at the Nairobi nursery we placed Sosian in our most secure stockade, as he was certainly too big for our infant stables, and the Keepers, while ever watchful, handled the situation with caution, very conscious of Sosian’s size! We had some anxious moments while the KWS vet tried to revive him, as he had by this time been under anesthetic for longer than anticipated, but fortunately it wasn’t long before we could all relax again as he slowly came back to life. Right from the moment he came around he began feasting on greens and hasn’t looked back since. When the other nursery orphans were brought to his stockade in the early morning he seemed to relax, although he was inclined to be fairly rough with them.
This meant that they only arrived back here at 8.00pm in the evening, having embarked on this rescue mission at 2.00pm in the afternoon.
Had all lines of communication around this rescue been clearer we would have prepared to take Sosian directly to join the older orphans in Tsavo. However, given the delays encountered once the plane arrived in Rumuruti, time no longer permitted the lengthy flight down there, so a decision was made to bring the larger than expected orphaned calf directly to the Nairobi nursery. It was probably the appropriate place for him to be for the first couple of weeks so that we could monitor him closely, tame him down, and make sure he was in perfect health before joining the others his age in Tsavo.
They managed to secure this young calf, an impressive feat given the size of him. No one knows the reason for Sosian being orphaned, or the whereabouts of his mother, dead or alive, so to this day it remains a mystery.![]()
![]()
Mike Seaton, like so many times previously, came to the rescue and dispatched his Cessna Grand Caravan along with a team from The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and a KWS vet, to collect the orphan. No one was prepared for the size of this elephant, as previous reports had said the orphan was “the size of a goat”. On arrival our team were taken to where Sosian was being held, and then faced the daunting task of loading the sedated calf onto a landcruiser to transport him to the airstrip, followed by the near impossible task of lifting the 500 + kilos of calf into the plane, and then the unloading and transportation to our Nairobi Nursery.
Latest updates featuring Sosian
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Every elephant that dies at the hands of poachers so that it's ivory tusks can satisfy the appetite of the thoughtless masses in the Far East, whilst satiating the greed of local people who are killing the country's irreplaceable wild heritage, sickens all caring people
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By adopting, you play a vital role in the life of an orphaned elephant, rhino, or giraffe — helping us provide the round-the-clock, loving attention each one needs and deserves over many years, so they can ultimately reclaim their place in the wild.
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