The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Yes I got it! Loved it . Do they usually cover all the elephants in that email?

Just caught up on your news Wilderness. I'm really chuffed for you, that you have adopted Orwa well done, I hope he gives you lots of enjoyment, seeing him growing up
WS

For each ele/rhino you foster you get an email, contents are the same as they update on all the 3 units, but they will highlight with a link your little ele and with keepers news etc.

Lai

Thanks WS The updates are real fun to read.. and I love seeing the pics they put up too
Oh i get it now Lai. Cant wait to read more from them :)

Hi Wilderness, the best updates which are almost daily from DSWT are on Facebook and also Twitter - so worth checking as often as you can

Lai

I check updates on facebook whenever I can. Really sad to know of Moju and Lemek passing away

Sorry to hear that Wilderness. RIP little Moju and Lemek.

SM

Thats a shame Wilderness, I'm sorry to hear that Moju and Lemek have gone to the Great Savannah in the Sky RIP Moju and Lemek
WS

Hi Wilderness. Haven't been able to get on for a while so I'm late in my congratulations on fostering little Orwa!! You'll just love being a foster parent

This was something DSWT put up today about Lemek :

We struggled day and night to try and persuade her to take the milk, but without success, despite the presence, example and in-put of all the other Nursery elephants who adored her; despite the input of our best and most experienced Elephant Keeper, Mishak Nzimbi whom every elephant that has passed through our Nursery has loved most; despite endless patience and perseverance day and night for the 8 days she was with us! This elephant, unlike all the others that have passed through our hands, simply would not even try to ingest a sufficient quantity of milk in 24 hours to sustain life. She literally faded away before our very eyes, passing only small amounts of mucus, suggesting a fundamental gut problem, for which we took the precaution of the usual oral Sulphadimidine, but with no noticeable change.n the end we were convinced that she must have some internal defect, and after she breathed her last at 5.30 a.m. on the morning of the 5th February, 2012, we arranged for an autopsy to try and identify this new phenomenon. The result was a shock that broke our hearts. Little Lemek simply died from starvation, no evidence of anything else remiss. In a nutshell, she simply did not want to even try to live, having lost her elephant mother and family a tragic baby who had made up her mind even at that tender age and was determined to join her lost elephant mother. We have never had another like her and it is distressing to know that there was simply nothing we could do to make her change her mind, for force-feeding an elephant is not possible. Rest in Peace little Lemek, somewhere in the Great Somewhere, with your Elephant Mother, even though, had you lived, you would have made a wonderfully caring little mother to others like you who are bound to follow due to the escalation in elephant poaching throughout Africa due to the demand for ivory in China and the Far East.

Reading this piece just made incredibly sad The poaching absolutely never ends.

Thanks Anne-Marie. I love their updates etc

Isn't it just hearbreaking - I read that a little bit earlier and I couldn't stop the tears!! Yet another life lost because of mans greed!! the poor keepers and staff at the trust must be heartbroken

that's such a sad story, poor little Lemek. It really is heartbreaking to realise what man is doing to all wildlife through greed and ignorance.

RIP little Lemek -

Lai

I have never visited the trust. I hope I get to soon. Has anyone met Kibo? He is my foster baby. :) I would really like to see some of his recent photos. I hardly get 3 or 4 every month from the trust. They've got their hands full with so many eles to care for!!

As for Lemek, it is just too bad that she dint make it. My heart aches for her. At such a tender age she decided to starve herself because she could not bear to live without her mother. She will continue to live in our hearts forever. It just touches my heart to see how loving and determined she was. RIP little baby! We love you!

Last year we visited DSWT in Nairobi and saw all the little eles - under Members safari trips you'll find some photos of our visit.

Anne-Marie also visited the orphanage last September and has posted a wonderful account of her day there as well as some lovely photos.

Lai

I just saw all the photos uploaded by AM and you. :) They are wonderful.

Thanks Dnyanada - hopefully we will visit again either this year or next. I think by then some of the little eles we foster may have been moved.

I'm not sure if you've seen this on the DSWT website

An African Love Story by Dame Daphne Sheldrick

http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/html/anafricanlovestory.html

Not yet available but I am sure it will be a wonderful book.

Lai

I found this Video of Kibo on You Tube


and the rescue of Orwa


WS

WS - DSWT is good at adding clips which you can find via their FB page as well.

It's lovely to see the clips and see the eles making their next journey.

I always find it hard to watch the rescue clips, they look so vulnerable and scared.

Lai

Thank you Dnyanada. I'm glad you liked the pictures! I was in heaven! That was my dream come true!!

DSWT have had another two rescues over the weekend, one of the rescues is now up on youtube.

Her story is here: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp?N=266

The video of the rescue seems to have been taken down so I hope it reappears later.

Thanks WS! I've watched these videos but it was a lot of fun watching them again. :)

I heard about the book, Laikipia. Can't wait to get my hands on it!! :) Which eles have you fostered?

We foster quite a few, so i must think hard now ...

Il Ngwezi - quite an old ele and now wild
Kibo
Naipoki
Solio - the rhino

and one other that I fostered as birthday present for a friend of mine (and I can't remember just who at the moment)

Lai

That's amazing! I have finally found a foster parent who has adopted Kibo too. :) Its really nice of you to adopt so many. :) Every adoption counts and goes a long way in assisting the keepers in nurturing the elephants (and rhinos ofc)!