The ivory orphans
The Sun visits sanctuary for baby elephants whose parents were killed for their valuable tusks
Tender care ... Dame Daphne Sheldrick with Moju, the five-months-old orphaned elephant
Exclusive
from SHARON HENDRY in Nairobi, Kenya
Published:
11th
April 2012
A GUST of red dust swirls through the air as a plane touches down on the
African savannah with a badly wounded baby elephant on board.
Sun follows orphan Sities
By SHARON HENDRY
THE Sun is supporting the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust by fostering brave little
orphan Sities.
The two-year-old elephant was taken into care aged just seven weeks after
losing her parents to poachers.
We will be following her progress and contributing to her upbringing as she
makes her eight to ten-year journey from the nursery back into the wild
elephant community of Tsavo National Park.
Little Moju, who lost her mother to poachers desperate to cash in on her
valuable ivory, has arrived at Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s elephant orphanage —
a sanctuary nestling in a picturesque corner of Nairobi’s National Park.
It is where Dame Daphne, 76 — knighted by the Queen in 2006 —
has devoted her life to the care of elephants whose parents were killed by
those hunting them for their tusks.
She lovingly rears each orphan helped by specially trained keepers until they
are ready to be integrated back into the wild.
Dame Daphne said: “I have always felt privileged to live among elephants. They
are far better than us humans and aren’t corrupted by greed or money.
“But I am very worried for them. Poaching is now a big problem because the
growing wealth in countries like China means there is growing demand for
ivory and elephants are paying the highest price of all.
“The international community must work together to make this stop before we
risk losing one of the most incredible mammals known to man.
Important issue ... The Sun's Sharon writes about plight of elephant orphans
“Moju is just one example. She was found all alone by rangers in Kenya’s Kora
National Park. After losing her mother to poachers she had stayed alone for
several days and had her tail bitten off by a pack of vicious hyenas. She is
grieving terribly for her mum and will be depressed for some time.”
Africa is facing its worst elephant-poaching crisis for decades, with
elephants being slaughtered illegally to meet the demand for ivory from
China’s nouveau riche.
Even in one of the continent’s best-protected reserves, the Samburu National
Reserve Park in northern Kenya, more elephants have been lost in the past
two and a half years than in the previous 11.
During the last five months, the level of poaching has been the worst on
record.
Africa had 1.3 million elephants in the 1970s but, according to the most
recent estimates, now has less than 600,000.
Unbelievably, elephants are being sacrificed for decorative ornaments and
“Hanko” — ivory signature seals that documents in China
and Japan are traditionally stamped with.
Kiss goodnight ... little elephant gives a 'peck' to his keeper
Among upwardly mobile Chinese, such seals are on a par with owning a
prestigious Mont Blanc pen.
The Sun visited Daphne’s project in Kenya to witness first-hand the effect of
the re-emerging ivory trade.
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was established in memory of her late
husband — a well-known national park warden — in 1977.
It incorporates the Orphans' Nursery where Daphne has successfully hand-reared
more than 130 young elephants, some just hours old.
Today, 12 orphans are in the tender care of the Nairobi nursery. There are a
132 that are still dependent on their keeper and milk in the two
rehabilitation centres in Tsavo East National Park.
Daphne, a mum-of-two, explains her passion, adding: “My family are originally
from Lincolnshire and Wales but my paternal grandfather was sent to fight in
the Boer War and so we ended up migrating to Africa. I was born on a farm in
the Rift Valley, in Kenya, and I grew up among orphaned animals.
“My parents thought I would be a doctor but I met and fell in love with my
first husband Bill Woodley who worked in the Nairobi National Park and my
life seemed destined to remain here.”
Close bond ... Dame Daphne with her first charge Aisha
Later, Daphne and Bill parted amicably and she wed David Sheldrick —
the pioneer warden of Tsavo National Park.
Daphne clearly recalls her first encounter with an infant elephant more than
35 years ago. She said: “Aisha was the first newborn elephant I managed to
keep alive for six months.
“I worked out that elephants are totally intolerant to cows’ milk and need to
be fed little and often. I also learned most importantly that their family
has to be replicated so I became Aisha’s mother and at night I put my dress
beside her for comfort.
“When I had to leave her for the first time to attend my daughter’s wedding, I
even left my dress for the keeper to wear.”
Daphne’s voice faltered as she added: “Sadly she died while I was gone —
of a broken heart.”
Since Daphne’s groundbreaking milk discovery, countless calf’s lives have been
saved. Now, British Airways helps Daphne’s crusade by flying in a staggering
5,000 tins of non-dairy SMA baby’s formula milk per year.
And cabin crews regularly drop in with much-needed blankets and even TIGHTS to
secure them across the elephants’ backs.
Crew are you? ... Elephant reaches trunk toward BA girl at orphanage
Daphne says: “An elephant’s age replicates a human’s age at every stage so we
have to treat the babies as we would humans of the same age. Keepers sleep
with them all through the night for reassurance and bottle-feed them every
three hours.
“Many babies who come here are very traumatized by what they’ve seen and need
love and attention. Wild herds do not like taking on problems so we have to
rehabilitate the orphans mentally as well as physically before they can
return to the wild.”
After two milk-dependent years, orphans and their human family of keepers are
transferred to the nearby Tsavo National Park.
Here, they mingle freely with the wild herds and eventually become fully
integrated back into the community.
Some of Daphne's orphans have now had wild-born babies, which they have
brought back to show their human family.
She said: “The real reward for years and years of tender loving care is when
an ex-orphan has wild-born babies and brings them back to show us. They
bring them right up and trust us enough to handle them — it’s
magical.”
This year, Daphne’s life story will be told in her book An African Love Story:
Love, Life and Elephants — and Nicole Kidman is lined up to play
her alongside Jude Law in a feature film.
Helping hand ... British Airways girls with a keeper and baby elephant
But for Daphne the only stars of the show are the elephants, and she is
determined to go on fighting for their survival.
She said: “Just a decade ago, ivory traders were paying poachers £2.25 per
kilo for ivory. Now the price is £101 per kilo. There is no welfare in Kenya
so for a man with no job and a large family to feed, it’s a huge incentive
to pick up a gun or a bow and arrow and kill an elephant. People must not
turn a blind eye to this.”
For her part, Daphne remains eternally devoted to the animals that inhabit the
savannah around her simple yet idyllic home.
She said: “When you live with nature and you understand so much about all the
things that live around us, it’s an endless source of fascination and means
you are never alone. You never know what every day is going to bring. You
live for the day in Africa — take things as they come and jump the
hurdles if you need to.”
TO find out more about Daphne’s project, to pre-order a
copy of her book or to foster an elephant visit
www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org
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