The 2022 Africa Journal's, Chapter 36: The Orphans

 Chapter 36:

The Orphans

"The only good cage is an empty cage."

--Lawrence Anthony, The Elephant Whisperer

I adopted an orphan today.    It was a spur of the moment decision.

I mean, we, as a group, toured an orphanage in Nairobi and I fell in love with all those sweet little faces.   I selected the smallest, the newest, the youngest.

What was I thinking?   How am I going to get her home?   Think of all the arrangements I'd have to make.

Besides, I'd have to fight my friend Jason Fernandes for custody.

Here's my baby:     Her name is Nayambeni.

Here's Jason with "our" baby.   Can you see how much he loves her.   Can you imagine what a custody battle that would be?

Jason would probably win.   He's probably got quite a track record with the orphanage already.   Besides, he lives in India and he could smuggle Nyambeni overland.

Me?   She definitely won't fit in my luggage.   And even thought my status with Alaska Airlines allows me two free checked bags, I think and elephant in my luggage would be pushing things.

Ah, well.   It's all a pipe dream anyway.   He current keepers wouldn't part with her.

Jason, by the way, owns and operates Wilderness Uncut with his partner.   They arrange safaris in Africa and India.   I have traveled with him two or three times.

The orphanage in Nairobi is owned and operated by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.  It has a long history of aiding wildlife, including rescuing elephants orphaned by a mother's death, by abandonment, by human-wildlife conflicts.   A myriad of circumstances cause an elephant baby to be orphaned.

Animals in the wild benefit from the trust's activities in providing veterinary services.   They patch up wounded lions and other animals, removes snares, spears, arrows, etc.

The men in the green smocks are keepers at the elephant orphanage.   The wheelbarrows are full of bottles of a special milk supplement developed by Dame Daphne Sheldrick.

I could go into pages and pages of the origins of the Sheldrick Trust and the many good things it does, but you can Google it and read it online.

We were there for a private visitation of the orphans and right now they are hurrying down the path through the forest to get their bottles.   Usually the orphanage is open to the public for only an hour a day, with visitors standing on a raised rock platform.  By selecting and paying for a private visit, we get to be right down in the dirt with them.   And touch them.

Keepers waiting with wheelbarrows full of milk bottles.

And here they come.

The greens on the ground don't grow there.   The keepers cut them for the ellies.

The keepers hold the bottles but some ellies have gained enough mastery of the some 40,000 muscles in their trunks that they can hold the bottles by themselves.

Absolutely blessed.

The rock pavilion is where the crowds of guests stand when they come to the daily viewing.   It's for an hour.  We paid extra for a private viewing and walked among the elephants.   I set my camera down on the platform and an Ellie made right for it.   One of the keepers rescued it before it became an elephant toy.

The rock wall makes a good scratching place.

When the weather is hot, the ellies will wade into the water and splash around.   Then, they throw dirt all over themselves.  This is to protect their hides from sunburn and insects and it also cools them.

Your thought elephants were gray, didn't you?   Well, they are.   Because elephants roll in or cover themselves with dirt, they take on the color of that dirt.   Due to the iron oxides in much of  Kenya, the dirt is reddish.

Thisi Ellie is smelling Shelly's feet.   They are so observant.   This one recognized something different about her footwear.

This is a video of  ellies I took a couple years ago when they were playing in the water.   There is fresh water for drinking in the tub.  If any of the babies are wearing blankets, they are part of the "blanket brigade" --those babies that need a bit of extra warmth.  

Each Ellie has its own bedroom, or stable.   It's complete with nice soft straw,  some lucerne (alfalfa), and a keeper who stays with the younger ones all night to make sure they get their milk every four hours and are comforted by the company.   The keeper has a bunk where he can rest.

This is Maxwell, a black rhino who was abandoned shortly after his birth because he is blind.   You can touch him!   He's very much a part of the ellie orphanage.   Every morning when the elephants are let out of their "bedrooms" they walk by Maxwell's digs to say good morning.   Sometimes they touch him or drape their trunks on him.

Randy, right, and Jason with Maxwell.

Maxwell

It costs $50 to adopt an elephant orphan.   WIth that, you receive a monthly newsletter by e-mail with photos, videos, keepers diaries, and special notes on your baby.   Plus a sweet watercolor that you can download.

Watercolor by Angela Sheldrick.

You will hear of new rescues, something that is occurring a lot due to the severe drought in Kenya.  You will learn how the elephants form their own mini-herds and learn behaviors for the future.

Here is one paragraph from a longer report from the keepers's diaries about my baby:  Returning to the mud bath mid-morning, the first group of younger orphans downed their bottles of milk and tiptoed over the slippery ground to have a dip in the mud bath. The edge was too slippery for walking, but this did not pose a problem for the babies as it was perfect for sliding. Nyambeni was the first to slide on her belly into the muddy water, little legs out to the side and trunk aloft. 

These elephants are NOT bound for zoos or game farms.   At a certain age, they will be transported to one of several  "reintegration" sites that the trust runs.   There they will have the opportunity to interact with wild elephants and eventually return to the wild themselves.

The real joy is when a reintegrated female returns to show the keepers her new calf.

 This is a report about one elephant who went AWOL for a few days and  then returned to the reintegration site and eventually gave birth:

However, there was one hiccup in Murera’s entree into motherhood. Perhaps because of the hip and leg injuries she sustained as a calf, she found it difficult to stand still and in the proper position for baby Mwana to suckle. The first days are pivotal for any newborn elephant, and the Keepers worried that her daughter was not getting the all-important colostrum and milk she needed to thrive. So, they stepped in and began milking Murera, then bottle-feeding Mwana. In an incredible display of trust, Murera accepted these measures without any reservations.

This continued, night and day, for more than a week.Then, on the 11th day, we finally had a breakthrough. Without preamble, Murera propped her leg forward and allowed Mwana to suckle. From that moment forward, she nursed her like an old pro. Again, the Keepers were so very proud of their matriarch.

Currently, the Nairobi site has 30 Ellies and there are 120 keeper-dependent elephants at their five other reintegration sites, plus another black rhino, a giraffe, some antelope, etc.

Here's a link to my baby's story:    https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans?q%5Bspecies.slug%5D=&q%5Bage%5D=&q%5Bgender%5D=&q%5Brescued.environ%5D=&q%5Blocation.slug%5D=&q%5Bname%5D=Nyambeni&filter_grid=2&q%5Balive%5D=true#orphan_search

Thus far, Sheldrick Wildlife trust has successfully raised 316 orphaned elephants, attended 10,473 veterinary cases, and supports 25 anti-poaching teams.

One of the sites is caring for an orphaned giraffe named Twiggy.

It is such a worthwhile cause and you can give an adoption to someone as a gift.   No extra baggage allowance required.

Pale flycatcher.   A bird that was perched on one of the posts at the orphanage.