Elephant Orphans

On my first day back in Nairobi I hired a taxi driver to take me around the city. I told him to show me the highlights and lowlights of the city. The only thing I wanted to see for sure was the Baby Elephant Orphanage.

Elephants who are somehow orphaned are brought to Nairobi for rehibilation and will ultimately be released back out into the wild. They range in age from 2 to 24 months old. Most elephants arrive here because their mother's have been killed by frustrated farmer or ivory poachers. It is a real controversy. Many people believe that there are too many elephants in Kenya. They are very destructive to the environment as they eat a tremendous amount and can knock over trees without much effort. There is even talk at government levels about allowing a certain amount of culling.

This orphanage has come under fire for interfering with the natural process of letting babies die who can't support themselves. They no rely 100% on donations and park admissions; and raising elephants is not a cheap undertaking.

You can only visit the park for one hour a day, when the babies are brought out of the forest for their milk feeding and mud bath.

They come rush up to their keepers who are holding on to their milk bottles. They suck them down so quickly, just like any hungry baby. Then its time to get dirty. They need to have a mud bath everyday to protect themselves from the heat and keep the bug levels down. There is a small man-made pond where they frolic and sometimes get stuck in the mud. The handlers also help out by shoveling dirt and water all over the elephants. Some haven't learned yet, how to toss the dirt up with their trunks. After they are good and dirty, they head back into the forest to graze for the rest of the day.

They are divided into two groups by age. The first group are the real young ones and have the least coordination. The older ones are able to manage the bottles by themselves and can generally get themselves dirty.

The last visitor to the watering hole is a baby rhino. He was brought to the park when his mother fell ill and died unexpectedly. He will also be raised here for about two years and then released back into the wild.

These little creatures need a lot of attention and care. There are general 2-3 handlers to every animal. They need 24 hour supervision. The handlers are all rotated so that the elephants do not imprint on only one person. And after they are 24 months they are moved to another facility where they no longer have as much human contact. This is to help them live as natural a life out in the wild as possible. Hopefully with a lot of luck and support they will be released at around 4-5 years old to live normal lives.
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