A curated guide to tourism that is creating a better more vibrant WORLD

"All life has just one home, the earth, and we as the dominant species must take care of it."

 - Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick DBE

Yes, Re-CreationWORLD has adopted an orphaned Kenyan elephant! So, those of you who are members of the RCW Community can now say that you are helping to rescue, raise and rehabilitate orphaned elephants in Kenya as a supporter of The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and in particular Kiasa, a charming 23-month-old elephant who was rescued by the Trust when she lost her mother during a severe drought. 

When RCW's Founder was visiting the Trust's Nairobi Nursery she arranged for the adoption on behalf of our Community, first because she simply fell in love with the beautiful baby elephants (and the baby rhino) and secondly because she was incredibly impressed by the mission and wildlife protection and conservation initiatives of the 40-year-old Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and felt it important to help. 

Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Orphaned Elephants Project

I'm so excited to introduce you to our newest RCW family member, Kiasa. By adopting Kiasa we are giving her a gift of life and helping support her while she is under the care of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Orphan's Program, as well as helping to protect her homeland so she will be free to roam once she returns to the wild.

Kiasa was initially discovered under the protection of two gentle bull elephants (as seen in the SWT photo above), a very unnatural situation, which triggered concern. Her home was in the grip of a serious drought and numerous elephants were dying from lack of food and water. When it was confirmed that there were no females in the area and that there had been a nearby sighting of a female that had succumbed to the drought several days earlier the Trust's team, together with the Kenya Wildlife Service, sprung into action.

At approximately 5 months of age, Kiasa needed mothers milk to survive so a helicopter was arranged to transport her to the Trust's Nairobi Nursery as quickly as possible. After her initial adjustment period, and a time of grieving for her family, she has thrived at the orphanage and is now actively participating with the other orphans in their midday mudbath and delights in spraying visitors with mud.

Kiasa's future is bright and it is comforting to know that after her relatively brief stay - once she is about 3 years of age - she will leave the orphanage and move to one of three Reintegration Units in Tsavo National Park where she will begin her long rewilding journey. Here she will learn to live more independently and begin to develop connections with the wild elephant herds in the area. Hopefully, she will ultimately join one of the wild herds and have offspring of her own.

This happy ending to the story would not have been possible without the pioneering work of Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, the first person to perfect the milk formula and care required to raise and rehabilitate milk dependent elephants and rhinos. It was in honour of her husband, conservationist David Sheldrick that she established The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in 1977 to preserve and protect wildlife and habitat in Kenya "in the hope for a better future for both wildlife and mankind".

To date, the Trust's very successful Orphan's Project has rescued more than 230 orphaned elephants and more than 120 of them have been rehabilitated back into the wild. There are currently 30 known calves born to orphaned elephants now living in the wild. That's what gives us such hope for a wonderful future for Kiasa!

 

We hope you have enjoyed this introduction to mischievious Kiasa and that you will anxiously await an update on her progress.

To learn more about the incredible work of this organization, find out how you can visit the Nairobi Nursery - a must see for a responsible traveller visiting Kenya - and the various ways you can support their programs, including adopting an elephant, follow the links in The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Profile.

Do you think that the RCW Community should consider adopting more elephants? Are there any other wildlife conservation programs that we should be supporting and or introducing to our community? Please share your thoughts and ideas below. 

Pack for a Purpose

Get our *FREE* Responsible Adventure Checklist

* indicates required