Friday, July 6, 2012

Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage

A Sanctuary for Elephant Orphans 
where they can grow up strong and ready for release into the wild.

This is such a heart-warming story/video that I had to share it. 
 
When I was in Africa last year, I visited the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi – a wonderful compassionate place for orphaned elephant babies and youngsters that are rehabilitated to be released into the wild into an established herd in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.  I visited an adjacent park, Amboseli, on my safari and experienced for the first time elephants in the wild, big herds of adults, youngsters and babies – a precious sight to see.
 
 
http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
 
 
Elephants.sanctuary - Supporters of Elephant Sanctuaries Page
At Sheldrick's, wild born 8 mo old Mwende head butts wheelbarrow & kicks the keeper, feisty as a happy baby should be.


Published on Jul 5, 2012 by dswtkenya

On the 7th of November 2011 the Sheldrick Trust's ex-orphan Mulika gave birth to her 1st wild born calf. The calf was a female and named 'Mwende'. This clip shows baby Mwende's progress as she thrives and continues to lead a unique wild life amongst the ex-orphans and wild elephants alike.

To read more about this story visit our website:
https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/updates/updates.asp?ID=433

Elephant Orphans at Kenya's Renowned Sheldrick Orphanage
Since over 25 years, David and Daphne Sheldrick pioneered the successful hand-rearing and complicated strategy of successful rehabilitation back into established elephant communities in the wild.  Daphne Sheldrick was the first person in the entire world to successfully hand rear newborn fully milk dependent African Elephant orphans, something that spanned 28 years of trial and error to achieve. By the year 2008 the Sheldrick Trust had successfully saved and hand-reared over 82 infant African Elephant calves, two from the day of birth. Currently, over 40 of the Trust’s hand-reared elephants are fully established and living free amongst their wild peers in Tsavo, some returning with wild born young to show their erstwhile human family. Based at two established Elephant Rehabilitation Centers within Tsavo East National Park others are still in the gradual process of re-integration with yet others in early infancy at the Trust’s Nairobi National Park Elephant Nursery. The Trust has trained a team of competent Elephant Keeper who replace the orphans’ lost elephant family until such time as the transition to the wild herds has been accomplished, something that can take up to l0 years, since elephant calves duplicate their human counterparts in terms of development through age progression. Those that were orphaned too young to recall their elephant family remain dependent longer, but all the Trust’s orphans eventually take their rightful place amongst their wild counterparts, including those orphaned on the day they were born.


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Looking for some fun photography opportunity to capture tiny birds, check this out: