Yatta's Story
A female calf estimated to have been born towards the end of September 1999 and just one-month-old when rescued. This little calf was a poaching victim, her mother found dead (less her tusks) in the Tsavo/Athi triangle of Tsavo East National Park, below the Yatta Plateau.
The calf's bellowing was heard by a labour gang working nearby, who went to investigate and came upon her not far the her dead mother. They walked across the Mtito tributary, loaded her onto the back of an old Land Rover and drove her across the crocodile infested Athi river to the nearest Airfield at Tsavo Safari Camp, from whence she was flown to Nairobi. For a long time Yatta was troubled by a strange condition that puzzled all the Vets – weakness, periodic stiff joints and sometimes complete collapse. After massive doses of colloidal silver, glands in her neck became inflamed, then subsided, and a huge hard abscess developed on the side of her face, which was unusually not tender to the touch.
A female calf estimated to have been born towards the end of September 1999 and just one-month-old when rescued. This little calf was a poaching victim, her mother found dead (less her tusks) in the Tsavo/Athi triangle of Tsavo East National Park, below the Yatta Plateau.
The calf's bellowing was heard by a labour gang working nearby, who went to investigate and came upon her not far the her dead mother. They walked across the Mtito tributary, loaded her onto the back of an old Land Rover and drove her across the crocodile infested Athi river to the nearest Airfield at Tsavo Safari Camp, from whence she was flown to Nairobi.
Current age
25 years old
Gender
Female
Rescued date
26 October 1999
Rescue location
Tsavo Ecosystem, Tsavo East NP
Date of birth (approximate)
26 September 1999
Reason orphaned
Poaching
Age at rescue
0 months old (approx)
Current location
Living Wild
Yatta's Featured Photos
Our digital adoption programme includes the following:
Personalised adoption certificate.
Monthly email update on your orphan and the project.
Monthly watercolour by Angela Sheldrick.
Access to special content; latest Keepers' Diaries, videos and photos
Give Yatta the gift of life by adopting today.
Yatta's Calves
Meet Yatta's wild born offspring.
Yetu — Ithumba's first grandbaby — was born just outside the stockades on 19th January 2012. Read more.
In 2022, Yetu became a mother herself, delivering a little girl named Yebo. Photographed above are Yetu (left), Yebo, Yogi, and Yatta (right). Read more.
Yoyo was born on 7th October 2017, a special month in which we welcomed three new wild-born babies into the fold! As Yatta's second calf and first son, Yoyo has a doting older sister and a herd's worth of nannies on hand to watch over him and spoil him as he grows. Read more.
A very special delivery arrived in Ithumba on the morning of 10th November 2021, after Yatta introduced us to her third calf, a healthy boy we have named Yogi! Yogi is the fourth baby born in as many weeks to our ex-orphans, following in the footsteps of Kaia, Njema, and Noah. Read more
Yatta is now a mother four times over and a grandmother. Hours after giving birth on 29th March 2025, she made a special visit to Ithumba to show off her latest addition. We named her daughter Yara, which means 'small butterfly' in Arabic. Read more.
Latest Updates Featuring Yatta
Yatta's Latest Photos
Yatta and Yara
Yatta and Yara
Yatta
Yatta
Yatta arrives at the stockades
Yatta and Yogi
Yatta
Yoyo and Yatta