David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

              David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

                                 Where elphants still live pacefully

Today we go to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a non-governmental organization tha deals with the protection and conservation of elephants and rhinos in Kenya. Founded in 1977 by naturalist Daphne Sheldrick, the foundation manages a recovery center for orphans of these species, who are cared for and reintroduced into nature. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust also carries out awareness, education and research to combat poaching and habitat destruction.

During the walk back to their home within the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, dozens of baby elephants follow the organization’s staff to the feeding station. A coexistence between man and fauna never seen before, it seemed like a real family.The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is probably East Africa’s largest program aimed at rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned elephants. This conservation organization was founded in memory of famous game warden David Sheldrick. The Organization has collaborated since 1977 with the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Kenya Forest Service and dozens of other organizations to assist animals in need of environmental protection.

A little elephant named Tagwa strikes me with her cuteness. She is only three years old and her coat is the same color as the dust that is spread on her. She always has her guardian angel next to her, who protects her and cuddles her like a mother would. They tell me that Tagwa was found an orphan on the slopes of Mount Kenya, in an area named after her. She was dying, starving and exhausted, and only thanks to the intervention of the Sheldrick

Wildlife Trust was she saved. A rainy night delayed her transfer to Nairobi, where she received the care needed to recover. Now she Tagwa lives happily in her stable, where she falls asleep wrapped in a thermal blanket that makes her feel the maternal warmth. Her story moves me and makes me reflect on the fate of elephants, victims of human cruelty. Tagwa loves company and does not require much supervision. I accompany her to the stable, where I am fascinated by observing her while she quenches her thirst from the hands of her protector in the green uniform, and then lies down on soft straw. She does not appear to be sleepy but she falls asleep quickly when she is covered with a special thermal blanket that simulates maternal warmth and helps the specimens resist temperature changes. Like many other baby elephants, Tagwa lost her mother to man. I ask her protector to tell me her story, and he agrees. On a rainy night in May, in the Mount Kenya park, the inhabitants of a small village alerted the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to the presence of an orphaned elephant.

The orphan must have been around seven or eight months old, and was in serious condition: she was frozen, weak, malnourished, she couldn’t even walk. However, due to the heavy rains that fell on Nairobi that evening, it seemed impossible to transport her from Nanyuki Airport for treatment. Thanks to the team’s attention, however, Tagwa managed to survive the night, so she could be flown out the next day. In Nairobi, she received first aid immediately, and after a second bottle of milk she stood up on her own. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s orphan project deals with the rescue and rehabilitation of baby elephants still dependent on milk, accompanying them until they are reintegrated into the wild. Touched by that story, I decide to adopt Tagwa so as not to lose sight of her. Here it is possible to adoptelephant orphans and then follow their growth over the years. The eldest, Eleanor, is now sixty-one years old, and was saved by David Sheldrick himself in 1960.

With a small donation, you have the opportunity to support these animals and receive regular news on their health. It may not seem like much, but great undertakings are often based on simple gestures; like what David Sheldrick did for all of Kenya, to carry out a mission that goes beyond our interests.