A day at Daphne Sheldrick’s elephant orphanage

By Kassim Shitawah

More often than not, Nairobians travel very far to sightsee yet overlook attractions in their own backyard. A couple of weekends ago, I visited a getaway in the posh Karen suburb that was once occupied by white settlers. Together with my family, I set out one early morning to Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage that is located in what was once Karen Blixen’s coffee farm.

The sanctuary takes care of orphaned baby elephants and rhinos for a certain period of time before being released to the wild. This project is run by David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a non-profit charity organisation that was established in 1977 in memory of the famous naturalist David Sheldrick, the founder Warden of Tsavo East National.

Perhaps it is Sheldrick’s wife, Kenyan-born Daphne, who is the true pillar of this orphanage. For over 25 years, she took care of orphaned animals. Her work has over the years attracted international attention, including winning numerous awards from different organisations and personalities such as Queen Elizabeth II.

Juvenile Pachyderms

The orphanage is accessed through the Nairobi National Park entrance on Magadi Road off Langata Road. We followed clear signs until we reached the orphanage’s car park. The thought of seeing elephants at such a close range was thrilling. Often, we view them from the safety of tour tracks.

Although we had been told these juvenile pachyderms were so gentle one could even caress them, thoughts of stories I had heard of people killed by rogue elephants in the wilderness kept surfacing.

The orphanage is open to visitors from 11am to 12pm to reduce human disturbance to the animals. We arrived a few minutes before opening time and joined other visitors waiting at the gate. When it was time, we proceeded in single file to the first stop, which is the donation point. A jovial Caucasian lady was receiving Sh300 donations and welcoming visitors.

We then walked on a narrow path until we came to a clearing, which to me looked like some sort of arena. In the middle was a muddy pool. This is where visitors interact with the elephants. Part of the arena is barricaded with ropes apparently to keep visitors from crowding around the animals. Elephant keepers stood strategically inside with large bottles of formula milk capped with rubber teats. They were going to feed the elephants while we watched.

Infants And Toddlers

At the orphanage, elephants are kept in two groups — infants and toddlers. For most part of the day, the elephants stay in the Nairobi National Park with their keepers only to return to their cages in the evening.

We lined up in a semi circle around the arena and then the first group of infants emerged from a thicket with their attendants in tow. It was an amazing moment. As soon as they got into the arena, the elephant attendants quickly stuffed the bottles of milk into their mouths. The baby elephants sucked noisily at the bottles.

A tourist caresses a baby elephant at the feeding arena.

When they had had enough, the baby elephants started playing with their attendants. Some chose to play among themselves, playfully tossing branches or kicking a ball that they encircled in their trunks to the amusement of the visitors.

Meanwhile, an attendant gave us a brief history of the orphanage and some insightful knowledge of each elephant behaviour, approximate age and general elephant behaviour. All the elephants have been ‘baptised’ with names that reflect their origin, that is, where they had been airlifted. For instance, there is one called Kimana. He was rescued from the south-eastern part of the country near Amboseli National Park. Elephant Lasanju was rescued from Samburu while elephant Mzima was rescued near Mzima Springs in Tsavo West National Park.

The baby elephants are orphaned by either manmade or natural causes. When they are found, they are airlifted to the orphanage where they receive care.

Suddenly, we heard excited jeers and shouts form one corner of the arena. One of the elephants had gotten so close to a group of school children and the faint-hearted were scampering for safety, screaming their lungs out. The bolder ones, though, were caressing the elephant, which was unperturbed by the screams. It forged closer to the crowd, apparently enjoying the caresses.

Emotional Attachment

The attendants explained to us that elephants, like humans, are tactile creatures and caresses are very important to their psychological development. For a young elephant, family is very important so orphans are vulnerable to psychological despair.

Female elephants are the most affected because, at adulthood, they remain in the herd while adult bulls are more often solitary. The keepers act as a baby elephant’s lost family and stay with the orphans 24 hours a day. During the day, the keepers move around with them and sleep near them at night. To avoid any strong attachment to one individual, the keepers rotate, just in case a particular keeper has to be away from duty.

By the end of last year, the orphanage had reared 82 elephant calves, two from the day of birth. Currently, over 40 of them live among their wild peers in Tsavo. The elephants are cared for for about one to two years and then gradually reintroduced to the wild. To prepare them, the elephants are placed in two transition camps in the Tsavo East National Park. The reintegration period is slow and gradual and can take up to l0 years.

It was soon time for the infant elephants to leave and, as they disappeared into the bushes, toddler elephants romped into the arena. This time, the toddlers were given three bottles of milk (the infants had drank one bottle). We watched in awe as they gulped down the copious amounts of milk. Some dexterously held the bottles against their mouth using their agile trunks.

Caressing The Elephants

Toddler elephants are more aggressive. They shoved and bullied each other and threatened the crowd with mock charges. This, however, did not deter the crowd from surging forward to touch them. My family was eager to caress the elephants but I kept a safe distance behind the crowd, only moving closer to take a quick photo when the elephants appeared busy elsewhere.

The mud bath in the middle of the arena was another favourite spot for the elephants. They slid and wallowed in the mud. For some, it was difficult getting out of the slippery hole.

Before we knew it, it was noon — time to leave. On the way out, we learnt more about the David Sheldrick Trust.