A Visit from the US Ambassador

The US Ambassador to Kenya, Robert Godec, marked World Environment Day (WED) with a visit to the DSWTs elephant nursery in Nairobi on the 5th June 2013

The US Ambassador to Kenya, Robert Godec, marked World Environment Day (WED) with a visit to the DSWTs elephant nursery in Nairobi on the 5th June 2013. For his first visit to the nursery he spent time with all of the orphaned elephants and rhinos currently in the Trusts care. Ambassador Godec also took time to meet with Dame Daphne Sheldrick to discuss the illegal wildlife trade and the current poaching threat. Godec said policing efforts and prosecutions of poachers must improve and a lowering of demand for ivory and rhino horn in places like Vietnam and China must take place to save the animals.

As Godec mingled among the baby elephants, patting them on the back and feeding them oversized bottles, he told Sheldrick that the orphanage is a place where magic happens. While surrounded by the small giants, he said: "They're very human in a way", Daphne was quick to respond with "Oh, I've been working with them for 50 years now, theyre just like us, but better than us in many ways."

Clearly engaged by the experience and the critical importance that must be placed on the urgent protection of elephants and rhinos, Ambassador Godec chose to foster Tundani during his visit. Edwin, the DSWTs Head Keeper at the Nairobi Nursery, proudly presented the Ambassador with his fostering pack explaining how Tundani came into the Trusts care and how Tundani will one day find his way back into the wild elephant herds of Tsavo National Park.