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Elephant Orphans
About orphans - The Secret to Raising them
Content taken from The
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Web Site:
Essentially, the secret to the successful rearing of
African Elephant Calves is a combination of two essential
ingredients - the correct husbandry and the correct milk
formula. I have to confess that I am not sure if these
ingredients are possible in a Zoo situation, or that
elephants as a species should be kept in Zoos in the first
place, now that we know more about them and their
psychological and physical needs. Most Zoo elephants are
unhappy, psychotic, and extremely frustrated because their
quality of life is so dismal. Elephants need stimulation, a
loving family and the company of others, plus the space that
cannot be allowed them in captivity (100 miles is a little
stroll for an elephant).
The quality of life is
all-important in order for an elephant to be psychologically
sound and at peace, because the state of the mind impacts on
health generally and when you raise an elephant one must
take care of the mind as well as the body.
Through trial and error, The Trust can now claim the
success of having hand-reared over 30 newborn infant milk
dependent elephants, one from the day it was born and one,
currently two months old, who was born prematurely, surely a
world first! Our elephant orphans raised from infancy now
range in age from 16 years old to 2 months old and many are
now back amongst the wild herds of Tsavo National Park. Our
oldest female, who is 16, has just had her first wild born
calf and proudly brought it back to show the others and the
Keepers, whilst another young female is now pregnant and
expecting a baby at the end of 2000. We have also saved many
other calves orphaned just over the age of two who needed
nutritional help and who are now simply wild elephants
within Tsavo National Park all in their forties and
thirties.
Help
the orphans by buying a present from this site today!
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