Visiting the Elephant Orphanage

Today we drove to Nairobi National Park on the edge of the city (Nairobi is the only city in the world with a national park) and visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Orphan Project .  The Trust rescues orphaned elephants and rehabilitates them to return to the wild in Tsavo National Park, south of here.  In the past 28 years they have helped 88 elephants.

The orphans are kept here in the nursery project in the reserve in 3 groups according to their age.  This was our first glimpse of the smallest ones as they emerged from the wild with their keepers.  The group of keepers, who even sleep with the elephants, share responsibilities so the babies don't get too attached to only 1 person.

The project is only open to the public from 11 a.m. to noon each day during feeding time.  Pesi, one of  the youngest and newest orphans at 6 weeks old, is the last one in this group, I think.  They wear blankets to prevent them from getting a sunburn.

Every 4 hours they receive 5 pints of SMA Formula, similar to infant formula.

The second group came a bit later and they were running to the bottles!

After eating, they gently nuzzled and played with the keepers, reminding us of baby dairy calves!

Bob had knelt down so the people behind him could take pictures and this little guy came over to explore and nuzzle his toes!   Bob said his trunk felt so soft on his toe.

Soon the little ones returned to the forest and the oldest group came to feed.

The keepers shared the stories of the little ones and how they've been rescued from poachers or after falling into wells.  Some of them were abandoned by mothers when they were trapped or stuck in the mud.   At 3 years of age, they will move from the nursery to Tsavo and be gradually reintroduced to the wild where the other orphans have formed a family that they will join when they feel ready, at about 10 - 15 years of age.

I was glad to learn about the project and see how the Kenya Wildlife Service is working with the Trust to help this amazing animal.  They also have a rhinoceros project and we saw one of those little black ones too.  They aren't nearly as attached to human beings and are very solitary creatures.  

I took 177 pictures in the one hour and I'm sure Sandra took that many too.  Bob and Clarence were in charge of video footage which is pretty amazing!  I was very lucky to get a better connection today so I could upload these pictures for you - yeah!!!

Tomorrow morning we leave Nairobi and head 3 hours north to Mount Kenya to see monkeys and elephants in the wild - we hope!!