One of the things that Simon has been wishing to do here in Nairobi, is go to the Elephant Orphanage attached to the Nairobi National Park. This past weekend we made the trek across town and were not disappointed!
The orphanage takes in baby elephants that have been left alone for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the mother is sick or wounded and unable to care for the elephant. Sometimes pouchers have killed the mother for her ivory tusks (illegal in Kenya since 1989). There are currently 17 baby elephants at the orphanage -- the youngest is 4 months and the oldest almost 2 years old.
The baby elephants are cared for by individual keepers 24 hours a day. They roam free in an area of Nairobi National Park from 6 am to 6 pm while the keeper watches. At sunset the elephant returns to the orphanage and sleeps in a small shelter with a keeper -- they are fed SMA every 3 hours through the night and the keeper makes sure that the elephant stays warm with blankets. The elephants stay at the orphanage until they reach 2 years old. Then they are transfered to Tsavo National Park (5 hours from Nairobi) where they are transitioned back to a family in the wild.
The elephants were so cute to watch and they loved to be touched. Lisa had a great time shaking trunks! However, though small, these are very strong animals! They are also very wrinkly and rough feeling. Max thought it would be cool to be a keeper!.
1 comment:
What an amazing experience for the boys. I saw something on 60 Minutes about this orphanage I think and was so impressed with the work of the keepers and all who care so much. Thanks again for sharing.
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