Fun fact: every Kenyan I have asked thinks elephants
are ugly.
I have to disagree. I have seen the elephant orphans…
Last Saturday I traveled a mere 10 kilometers out of
central Nairobi- past the slums, past the motocross course, past the artisan/merchant
outskirts- to Nairobi National Park. A few smallish stables and other wooden
buildings dot the bush. Besides these few structures, the landscape cascades
from between the trees. The elephant orphanage.
I stood next to the guard rope and strained to see
into the bush. A Kenyan in a green jumper emerged wheeling several dozen
bottles, followed by a string of 15 self-conscious, yet hungry toddlers. These
youngsters hemmed and hawed until a green-suited keeper handed them a bottle.
Slowly, the elephants joined a 15-bottle salute, each trunk cradling the bottle
above the elephant’s head in an apt position for suckling.
As he or she finished, each elephant took to play time, they are merely toddlers after all. In typical toddler style, some threw tantrums for more milk, burping and ‘open-mouth breathing’ in the keepers’ faces. Most of the elephants’ mouths were between 5-6 feet high, giving the keepers a facefull and instantly endearing me toward their quirkiness!
The head-keeper explained the orphan project, named
and told the story of each elephant orphan, while I watched them gafaw. “ok, he
is just making up names and stories for these big critters”, crossed my mind. However,
as I watched, I began to notice idiosyncrasies of each elephant’s personality. One
kept getting stuck in the water hole, it’s legs too short to climb up the lip
to dry land. She kept back-sliding on her tummy into the mud! Her elephant
buddies stood ‘round watching, until one plopped down right on her head. I
mean, just sat on her friends head for a bit, jesting at the others with her
trunk, then, rose to eat some leaves. Another tried to assist the waterlogged
elephant by using her head to push the rump of the stuck elephant to dry land!
The helper finally gave up and ended up playing with the soccer ball!!
One loved rolling in the dirt on his back. One playfully lassoed her trunk overhead and looked at us as if, “check this out”.
One sat down like a dog on the edge of the waterhole and slid into the water like a waterslide!
The two youngest, 5 months old, were too coy for those type of shenanigans. They walked the perimeter of the rope with their trunk resting on the ankle of the keeper. These little ones were only about knee height from ground to top of the head!! Once close enough, I rested my palm atop her dirt caked block-head. She wiggled her hears (maybe she’s seen dumbo) in response:)
AHHHHH! They are so adorably human.
Even better than my wistful elephant watching, was
hearing about the care and successful reintroduction of these elephants in to
the wild. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is good people. Part of their
operation is funded by an elephant adoption program. This program allows the
donor to select a specific elephant to foster for a year and allows the donor
privileges of watching the elephant bed any night, emailed updates on
progress/happenings, and watching some of its reintroduction to the wild
(assuming that happens the year you foster)!!!!!! WHATTTTT? I know I promised
to return home without any adopted children, BUT…..early ‘me-gift’ for my
birthday? Possibly.
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/index.asp
Video on website above. Anti poaching! Brief
traumatic images: 
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