Sao Viet

Left alone in the wild with no family, this tiny elephant’s story could’ve ended in heartbreak — until kindness changed everything

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by

Binh
in

 

An Orphaned Elephant Calf Now Has Hope for a Future

Thank goodness for good people. Last week, a local community member got quite the surprise when one morning he went to gather his livestock herd and found a young elephant calf amongst them.

Alarmed that the mother was nowhere in sight and the calf appeared hungry and tired, he called Mara Elephant Project.

We immediately responded alongside the Kenya Wildlife Service and launched a search for the mother both in the air and on the ground.

That’s when our worst fears were confirmed, the mother was discovered deceased of natural causes nearby. This operation just turned into a rescue mission.

We needed to get the young calf to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) elephant orphanage for immediate care.

The 2-month-old calf, weighing almost 200 lbs., was loaded into the helicopter for transport to a nearby airstrip where she could be collected by SWT.

She’s now under expert care and there’s hope for her future survival.

While not the outcome we all wanted, we are very grateful to have such great partners that assist us in turning tragedy to hope.