Orphaned elephants Murera and Sonje begin a new phase in their ultimate rehabilitation back into the wild, as they graduate from the Nairobi Nursery to the DSWT's third and brand new reintegration unit at Umani Springs in the Kibwezi Forest. Full account of their move at: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/updates/updates.asp?ID=681
As the world looks on for the start of the 2014 Fifa World Cup, and following a visit from African football star Yaya Toure, football fever has gripped our keepers, and with that the orphaned elephants at the Nairobi Nursery.
“A world without elephants is hard to comprehend but it is a real possibility…Elephants have walked the earth for 50 million years but against a sub-machine gun or poacher armed with a spear, they stand little chance.”
-Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick
photo courtesy of David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Published on Oct 6, 2013
From the front lines, this film tells the ongoing story of the elephant poaching crisis in Kenya through the heroic work of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, based in Nairobi.
The piece features Dame Daphne Sheldrick - a pioneer of elephant-human relationship with over 50 years of rescuing elephants orphaned by poaching and rehabilitating them to go back to the wild. We also hear from Julius, an elephant keeper at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Nursery in Nairobi and Nick Trent, the Anti-Poaching pilot operating in Kenya's massive Tsavo National Park.
At the current rate elephant poaching, with an estimated 1 elephant killed every 15 minutes for its ivory, could see the end of wild elephants in Africa by 2025.
The time to act is now - and there is so much we can do. Begin by getting involved here: iworry.org. A campaign of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT), iWorry organised marches around the world in solidarity with the elephants on 04 October 2013 and is calling for a complete ban on international and domestic ivory sales.
To learn more about the orphan rehabilitation process and the Anti-Poaching efforts of the DSWT, go to www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org
Elephant moves always take into account friendships and so at 3.30am on 28th May, three little bull elephants - friends Bomani, Orwa and Teleki mounted the elephant mover and began their journey to the Ithumba Reintegration Centre. Watch their first steps at their new home, meeting the older orphans who will join them on their journey back to a life in the wild.
The DSWT and Kenya Wildlife Service Mobile Vet Teams exist to treat sick and injured wildlife in Kenya with a significant number of cases being the treatment of elephants targeted by poachers. In the last 12 months, the DSWT's three Mobile Veterinary Teams and SkyVets have treated more than 188 elephant cases.
January 8th: The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust rescued a two year old bull elephant from Amboseli National Park, whose mother, known to the researchers of Amboseli Trust for Elephants as Zombe, was extremely sick and in a state of collapse.