Olare, the orphaned elephant fostered by RedCarpetRoxy.com photo: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
I wanted to pass along the latest updates of the orphaned elephant, Olare, who I am fostering at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya. It is so easy to foster either orphaned elephants at the Trust, as sadly, they are brought in to the organization all of the time due to poachers killing their mothers for their ivory tusks. It is amazing to see how motherly Olare has become to other orphaned elephants calves at the Trust after seeing her own mother having been paralyzed by a bullet and later euthanized. Truly remarkable animals.
Click here to find out how you can foster an orphaned elephant or rhinoceros at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Monthly summary for Nursery Unit : February, 2010
An orphaned bull elephant, subsequently given the name “Chemi Chemi” was flown in from Loisaba Ranch in Laikipia on the 22nd, having been found alone on the Ranch boundary with Pokot country the previous morning, with no other elephants nearby. Ranch staff monitored the calf throughout the day, but he was quite obviously an orphaned victim of either poaching or human wildlife conflict, both of which are rife in the tribal country occupied by the Pokot people. He was held at the Ranch Headquarters overnight and flown into the Nursery the following morning. He was in reasonable physical condition upon arrival, although visibly very stressed, but he took milk from the bottle immediately, and very soon calmed down. The Nursery elephants were brought to meet him, and all greeted him very warmly, to which he responded instantly and positively.
This month, Olare appears to have taken over the Matriarchship from Suguta of the small babies, namely Tano, Mutara and Shukuru focusing on Shukuru as her special favourite. However, the arrival of Chemi Chemi diverted her attention, allowing Suguta a chance to reclaim little Shukuru as her special baby. Chemi Chemi has proved a remarkable elephant, in that he calmed down instantly, took his milk feeds from the bottle without any trouble, has suffered no stomach problems, and instantly adapted to being a member of the orphaned Nursery herd, even unafraid of the noon day mudbath visitors two days after being a totally wild elephant! He has been a delight from the onset – one of the easiest elephants we have ever handled and a very popular member of the Nursery herd.
Another Elephant Rescue alert was received from KWS on Saturday 27th. Two poached cow elephants had apparently been spotted from the air in Kora National Reserve, their tusks missing, and both with orphaned milk dependent calves nearby. However, tragically, these two unfortunate babies were never recovered, it being over a weekend, and obviously have since been lost, since they would have no chance of survival without their mothers’ milk. It is heartrending to reflect on how many such cases happen probably on an almost daily basis now that poaching is rife and the price of ivory so high in the Far East. The elephants that are found in time to be saved are precious few and far between, particularly in remote areas.
Following the tragedy of losing Naimina and Enasoit at Ithumba, all the Nursery elephants, with the exception of the smallest three, as well as all the milk dependent orphans at both Ithumba and Voi, have been treated with the two specific drugs identified to deal with the particular gut parasites transmitted by diseased livestock identified from gut samples sent to Japan, and which were probably responsible for the demise of so many of our 2009 drought victims under circumstances that baffled all the Vets as well as the local pathological Laboratories. Whilst 2009 was a veritable nightmare year for all elephants, (and by extension, for us as well), at least this was one crucial new lesson that was learnt the hard way and will serve to save many others in the future!
February was a happy month for the Nursery elephants, all of whom remained healthy. Unseasonal heavy rain towards the end of the month has been a Godsend to keep the vegetation green and nutritious and relieve the usual heat of the usual extremely hot dry months of January, February and March, and for that we give thanks. As always, it has been interesting to observe the dynamics of the orphaned Nursery herd, Olare superceding Suguta in the mothering of the three smallest calves, Tano, Mutara and Shukuru. As the smallest, Shukuru is the hot favourite of all the older females, although the arrival of Chemi Chemi has diverted Olare’s attention somewhat and allowed the others a chance to monopolize her whilst Ndii has also been paying a great deal of attention to the newcomer, Chemi Chemi. Kalama and Turkwel obviously have an unknown score to settle, for both females have been antagonistic towards one another throughout the month. It has been a great relief to see Mawenzi’s improvement since she was given the specific hookworm de-wormers, and also a relief that Kilaguni seems to have overcome the difficulty he was experiencing passing stools, due to the damage inflicted by the hyaenas prior to his rescue. Molasses in his milk has kept his stools softer and enabled the scar tissue to stretch naturally without surgical intervention.
The Rhinos:- Shida’s sudden emergence from the bush at the visitors’ Carpark on the 13th, as all the mudbath guests were relaxing on the benches waiting to be escorted in to enjoy the orphans’ mudbath, caused quite a stir. Many of the guests fled, whilst others ignored the Keepers’ instructions, and insisted on approaching the rhino to get a better picture! However, apart from briefly scratching his bottom against one of the parked cars, Shida behaved impeccably, as he did on the day that he turned up at the mudbath ahead of the elephants, and began to approach the surrounding visitors. On both occasions, he was escorted away by a Keeper to go and fraternize with blind Maxwell, whom he enjoys engaging in a sparring bout between the separating poles of their respective two Stockades. We are always relieved to see Shida because the poaching of rhinos for their horns has become a mounting problem in Kenya, ever since the arrival of Chinese construction workers in the country.
Blind Maxwell’s daily routine has, of course, to remain monotonously un-varied, but since rhinos are creatures of habit, he is happy enough, still enjoying 3 milk feeds every day, the time of which he anticipates with amazing accuracy, presenting himself at the Stockade door on the dot! As always, interaction with Shida remains the highlight of his dark world but he also enjoys his mudbath, his comfortable sleeping shelter, and exercising around his stockade sure-footedly as well as the attention of passing visitors. He is in perfect health aside from his blindness.
Maalim is growing up. His passion for his mattress has not waned and he now enjoys the elephants’ large mudbath pool, into which he plonks himself on warm days once all the mudbath human guests have left. His daily routine also remains the same. Escorted by a different Keeper every day they embark on the rounds of all the rhino dungpiles and urinals in the vicinity, interrupted only every four hours for a milk feed. In the evening, the mattress takes over from the Keeper as Maalim heaves it over his body, and settles beneath it for the night, with just his snout and tail visible at each end! 
Monthly summary for Ithumba Unit : February, 2010
The month of February dealt us a catastrophic tragedy at Ithumba, leaving us all shocked and distraught – the very sudden and unexpected deaths of both Naimina and Enasoit, within just a day of one another, on the 5th and 6th February respectively. Both elephants were moved to Ithumba from the Nairobi Nursery on the 4th November 2009 (along with Meibai). Naimina came from the boundary between Amboseli and Tanzania, with a spear wound in her chest and Enasoit from Enesoit Ranch in Laikipia district. They arrived in the Nursery as emaciated milk dependent drought victims who had obviously lost their mother and been forced to share pasture and drinking places with diseased and dying domestic livestock belonging to the pastoral tribes of their respective areas. In the Nursery, both recovered rapidly, and were in fine fettle by the time they were transferred to Ithumba to make room for the many others that were coming in on an almost daily basis. There they instantly thrived and could not have been happier. As the youngest members within the Ithumba herd, they were embraced and adored by all the older orphans and they settled instantly, reveling in the fresh lush green growth brought on by December/January rainstorms which filled the natural waterholes with fresh rainwater, created mudbaths at every turn and turned Ithumba into a veritable elephant paradise.
Naimina was fine at midnight on the 4th February,, but refused her morning feed at 6 a.m. on the morning of the 5th February, which was unusual. She then suddenly began writhing around on the ground, obviously suffering severe stomach cramping. Head Keeper Benjamin instantly climbed the tall rocky kopje abutting the Stockades in order to get a signal and be able to alert us in Nairobi, so an aircraft was hurriedly chartered to fly Head Nursery Keeper Edwin Lusichi to Ithumba, armed with antibiotics, De-wormers and Buscopan to try and save Naimina. He got there just in time to administer the drugs, and although she seemed to improve slightly, it was already too late, and Naimina died at 11 a.m., before the chartered plane had landed back in Nairobi. We were stunned for the demise of Naimina was so rapid and unexpected, as she was in prime condition. That a 2 year old elephant in prime condition could be perfectly healthy and dead just a few hours later beggared belief, because usually by the time a calf has reached its second year, and passed through the Nursery, it is well on its way to being able to grow up unheeded by ill health.
However, little did we realize that a double whammy awaited us, for that same night Enasoit suffered identical symptoms. Immediately Head Ithumba Keeper Benjamin again scrambled up the tall rocky outcrop by torch light at 3 a.m. in the morning to alert us in Nairobi, and thereafter none of us slept a wink, worried sick about what could be the cause of this unhappy situation. Enasoit was dead by 6 a.m of the 6th February, but just before he passed away, at 5 a.m. that morning, the entire ex orphaned herd of elephants returned from the bush and came to the Stockade compound, all somehow having become aware of the tragedy unfolding around their cherished new babies. That mysterious and inexplicable “ elephant sixth sense” that we have witnessed had kicked in yet again, defying human logic! Both the groups normally led by Yatta and Wendi were united, all crowding around the door to Enasoit’s Stockade, as he breathed his last, united with the Keepers in grief. Meanwhile the Youngsters had been escorted out, so as to shield them from the unfolding tragedy, but all the ex orphans hung around and only left the compound long after Enasoit had passed away. They then met up with the Stockade dependent group and spent the entire day comforting the Youngsters, paying particular attention to little Meibai, the sole survivor of the last Ithumba intake of 3 ex Nursery members.
This second unexplained death of an otherwise perfectly healthy 2 year old elephant left us panicked wondering what we were dealing with, mindful that it could be some obscure virus that might threaten our entire orphaned herd. Ithumba offers elephants a habitat where all the minerals and nutrients they need are readily available to them in both the water and the browse so at the time we assumed that Naimina must have inadvertently consumed something extremely toxic out in the bush, or perhaps even been bitten by a poisonous snake that managed to get into the Stockade during the night, but the sudden death of Enasoit the very next day suffering the same symptoms pointed to the possibility of something much more sinister! Could it be the dreaded hookworm that had accounted for the death of so many of our Nursery drought victims, which had been identified through a tiny gut sample sent to Japan? The Vets thought not, but we were not convinced ever since blood sucking gut nematodes identified from gut samples sent to Japan had been identified. We were taking no chances with Meibai, who was also a 2009 Laikipia drought victim moved from the Nursery to Ithumba along with Naimina and Enasoit, so he was instantly dosed with the specific De-worming drugs recommended to us by the South African Onderstepoort Veterinary facility. Having treated Meibai, all the Stockade dependent orphans were also dosed just in case a hatching of the blood sucking nematodes had accounted for the deaths of these two 2009 drought victims who had shared time with diseased domestic livestock prior to being rescued.
Prior to Enasoits passing, Dr. David Ndeereh, the Vet attached to our Tsavo Mobile Veterinary Unit was already on his way to undertake a postmortem on Naimina’s body, when news came that Enasoit had also died under similar circumstances. Robert Carr-Hartley immediately flew from Nairobi with a Cold Box and containers to bring back body specimens for examination. The post-mortem was undertaken on the fresher body of Enasoit, and revealed an elephant in prime condition with all major organs healthy as did that of Naimina.
Robert Carr-Hartley brought back body samples to Nairobi along with samples of the milk, the water, the barley and coconut supplements, the bottles, the teats etc., etc. for analysis at the University Veterinary faculty. Since then nothing untoward has been identified which could account for the two orphans having been poisoned, and mercifully all the others, including Meibai, have remained healthy. Samples from the body of Enasoit has also been sent in formalin to Japan for analysis, because it was only there that the reason for the “wasting syndrome” of so many of the Nursery drought victims was positively identified. We suspect that the “turning foot” syndrome might also be related to the presence of those two parasites identified in Japan.
It is, indeed, mysterious that as Enasoit lay dying, Yatta, Wendi and all the now “wild” Ithumba orphans gathered as a herd at the door to his Stockade, surrounding him with concern and love as he departed this world. Obviously, through that mysterious “elephant perception” they were aware of the tragedy unfolding back at the Stockades and were united in their grief, and had come to say goodbye, and to share their sorrow with the human Keepers and the Stockade dependent orphans. Both Naimina and Enasoit had been deeply loved by bother their new elephant family as well as their adopted human one. Thereafter, the ex orphans have taken great pains to spend quality time with the Juniors, lavishing a great deal of attention on Meibai, as have the older females within the Junior set.. Meibai is now the cherished darling baby of the entire herd, enveloped by a constant out-pouring of elephant love. There have only been a couple of days this month when the ex orphans led by Yatta and Wendi have not met up with the Juniors, either as one cohesive herd, or separately, sometimes either waiting for them at the Stockade compound first thing in the morning, meeting them out in the bush later or at the noon mudbath, and often escorting them back to their Night Stockades in the evening, sometimes accompanied by wild bulls. On one occasion Nasalot arrived unexpectedly to undertake return escort duty, and went to great pains to usher Meibai into his specific Night Stockade, thereafter hanging around just outside until well after dark before departing.
An exciting event this month has been the h honeymoon of Mulika which began on the 8th and lasted for some three days during which time she was accompanied by a large handsome and very attentive wild bull and traveled separately to the other ex orphans led by Yatta and/or Wendi, joining them and the babies on one occasion at the noon mudbath.
On the l0th Kora and Lualeni, both of whom are normally still Keeper dependent opted to leave with Wendi’s group who had joined the Youngsters out in the bush and then departed taking the two Juniors with them. However, as the Juniors were about to return to feed after their noon mudbath, Kora and Lualeni returned to rejoin them again when they settled down to browse in the Kanziku area, Meibai sandwiched lovingly between Naserian and Sidai. However, a few days later, Kora and Lualeni suddenly rumbled and headed off in a hurry, no doubt called by Wendi to join her group for a night out, and again the next day the two were waiting at the mudbath venue when the Youngsters turned up. However, towards the end of the month Kora and Wendi rejoined the Seniors and by the end of the month had spent 5 consecutive days and nights out with them, so it looks as though they may have elevated themselves permanently to becoming part of the Senior ex orphaned group of Keeper Independent now “wild” orphans.
On the 21st, unusually it was Kinna who came alone to escort the Youngsters out first thing in the morning. Thereafter, she spent the entire day close to Meibai, apparently, (according to the Keepers), “teaching him many things about life in the wild”! Meanwhile, the weather this month at Ithumba has been very variable; some days so hot that all the Youngsters have been forced to browse under the shade of trees while Meibai has had to resort to drawing water from his stomach to cool himself down. On other days it has been too cool for the orphans to be tempted into the mud wallow, so they have opted for just a dust-bath instead.
On the 14th Ol Malo did not want to return into the Night Stockades, as she has been doing of late, but instead headed out with the ex orphans who had escorted the Youngsters back and who left the compound later. She has not been seen since. Being a somewhat fragile elephant, Head Ithumba Keeper Benjamin and the Warden have taken to the air on several days to try and locate her, but instead have seen many wild cow elephant herds, some with small calves and also many teenagers the size of Ol Malo, but no lone elephant her size, and, more importantly, no sign of a dead body. Ol Malo has always been a very outgoing elephant, comfortable in the company of her wild friends, on many occasions returning alone, or accompanied by wild bulls. We hope that she has just joined a friendly cow herd to become a “Nannie” to smaller calves, or even met up with “Mgeni”, Yatta’s wild recruit, who has also been missing from the ex orphaned herd since the arrival of the large boyfriend. We trust that she is just on a wild walk-about now that she is feeling in better shape, the hernia on her flank having visibly subsided.
Monthly summary for Voi Unit : February, 2010
A very exciting and heartwarming event in the February Voi Unit’s Diary has been the reappearance of Burra who returned to the Voi Stockades with Emily and Edie’s combined entourage on the 13th, not having been back to the Stockades since Mweiga suddenly dropped dead on the 22nd December 2007. He was last seen with Natumi’s now wild Splinter Group over a year ago, who have been spending a lot of time beyond the boundaries of the Park on neighbouring ranchlands. Having been absent from Emily’s unit for such a long time, understandably it was evident that Burra was somewhat reticent about the very close attention he was receiving from his old friends, Seraa and Thoma whom he had not seen for so long, and had obviously grown up a lot in the interim. Burra will be l0 years old in May, having come into the Nursery as an 8 month old victim of horrendous snaring which almost severed one ear into two separate halves and nearly strangled him. Because of these now healed benchmarks, he will always be very recognizable. His reappearance amongst the ex orphans led by Emily and Edie proved sufficient distraction for Sweet Sally to gently nudge Emily’s baby “Eve” from her mother and shepherd her to the stockade trough for a drink, perhaps knowing that Burra would be curious about the little one’s identity.
Before this, Emily visited the Stockades on the lst and again on the 6th, when she had Edie’s entourage in tow as well. On that occasion whilst Nyiro and Morani were involved in a pushing strength testing exercise, Icholta went to greet the Stockade group, of whom she has always been very fond, and who were already ensconced for the night. She stood at the entrance to their Stockade and rumbled gently to them in greeting which was answered by Taveta and Lempaute.
Very evident again in the February Diary is the love Wasessa has of the Voi Unit’s smallest baby, Tassia and the affection he has for her as well. The two are inseparable. Wasessa watches over Tassia every moment of every day, protecting him from the exuberance of the other bathers in the large Red Waterhole where the Voi orphans often assemble to have their noon milk feed followed by bathing in a pool that is still holding a lot of water and allows them to immerse themselves entirely on hot days. On cooler days they usually take their noon milk feed and have a drink of water back at the Stockades having been browsing around nearby Mazinga Hill which has always been a favourite feeding area for the Voi orphans. True to form, different members of the latest stockade intake lead their peers out to browse in the mornings, usually after a romp around the Stockade compound, then to the milk and mudbath venue, and finally back to the Stockades in the evening, it being considered a privilege to be Leader. Shimba and Mzima remain very close friends but Wasessa, Siria and Taveta are the most outgoing when it comes to meeting wild elephants, having all been orphaned old enough to clearly recollect their time as wild elephants. A large wild herd was bathing at the Red Waterhole when the Youngsters arrived for their noon milk on the 8th, and Siria and Wasessa enjoyed playing with wild age-mates, whilst Lesanju and Shira trailed a smaller wild calf. However Lempaute, who is still uncertain about close contact with wild strangers, remained apart sheltering in the shade of a nearby tree, shunning interaction. On another occasion a large wild bull was at the Red Waterhole on the 11th when the orphans turned up, and the more outgoing members of the group went to sniff and greet him before taking their milk. By the time they had finished, the wild stranger had departed, but following a cooling dip, they spent a little time searching for him before resuming the afternoon feeding session prior to returning to the Stockades.
Unseasonally, Voi has been blessed this month with some unusual rainstorms for this part of the year which have kept the vegetation green and nutritious. Natumi, Illingwezi, Aitong Mukwaju and Tsavo are the orphans that have not yet put in an appearance at the Stockades this year, presumably still on their walkabout on Rukinga Ranch. But, it has been a great joy to welcome Burra, who previously played such an unselfish and philanthropic role in ensuring the protection and providing company for ailing Mweiga before she suddenly dropped dead.
Below are the last five entries for Olare in the daily review of the Keeper’s Diary: Total listings found: 50
Listings below from Page #1 of 11 : From 1 – 5
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| 3/27/2010 | Little Sities has begun to settle down to life in the orphanage and is proving to be a very active, playful and naughty elephant. The older females, Suguta, Olare, Ndii, Tumaren and Mutara, are competing over who gets to “Mummy” her. Shukuru is feeling a little jealous of the new arrival especially when it comes to getting attention from her favourite keeper Mischak.
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| 3/25/2010 | Today was the last day for the Canadian Film Crew, who have been filming the Nursery elephants for the past 2 weeks. Sities has settled into the group led by Suguta, who has taken charge of her, only allowing Tumaren brief access. At last the Keepers can see that Suguta is taking on the Matriarchal role especially when Olare is not around.
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| 3/24/2010 | This was another morning with a lot of activity, all the older females wanting possession of little Sities, Olare, Ndii, Suguta, Tumaren and Dida all surrounding the new calf, which unsettled her. She began screaming, so the Keepers separated the baby and took her to Suguta’s smaller group, where Suguta and Tumaren took care of her. This worked well, and the calf soon relaxed and began happily playing in the loose red soil.
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| 3/16/2010 | As the orphans were browsing in the bush today having taken their morning milk feed, Dida, Kimana, Ndii, Mawenzi and Melia formed their own group whilst Olare, Kilaguni, and Chaimu formed a separate group, leaving Sabachi feeding on his own. Olare was happy to be the Matriarch of the remaining orphans, with Dida separate. Sabachi couldn’t decide which group to join, and moved between the two, or fed alone.
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| 3/13/2010 | Dida and her team downed their noon milk feed quickly, and then jumped into the mudbath to wallow. Ndii and Kilaguni were most active wallowers whilst Dida, Melia and Olare left the mudbath to dust themselves with loose dry soil.
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