Baraza

Category: elephants | Date: Dec 02 2007 | By: admin

Give me some of your food please…. Ele babies at the Daphne Sheldrick’s elephant rehabilitation center in Nairobi

Elephants really are extraordinary animals. I have a particular personal passion for them and have spent many years fighting to protect them by keeping the ivory trade off the agenda. I have a personal problem with anyone who says that elephants deserve to die for their teeth to be made into trinkets for selfish people. Ivory is only useful for elephants.

How could anyone every shoot an elephant I wonder? They are so like people, individually unique, funny, playful and naughty. They are such amazing animals that they have inspired some of the worlds most famous cartoons (eg Dumbo, Barbar - remember Colonel Hathi in Jungle book?),

Elephants have also created some of the most committed conservationists -Our three new elephant blogs will attest to this. They are interesting, complex and highly emotional beings. We have so much to learn about elephants in Kenya through Joyce Poole and Petter Granli’s blog on elephant communication,

Yirmed Demeke’s blog on Ethiopian jumbo’s, and the Andrea Turkalo’s 17 year project on forest elephants in a forest clearing in the Central African Republic. I hope you enjoy and support these new blogs as much as I do.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of renewing my wild spirit at the Sheldrick Elephant Sanctuary - this is an amazing sanctuary for raising baby elephants and eventually taking them back to the wild. You simply must visit their website and read the individual monthly diaries of all the baby elephants.

This photo is Shimba, she was orphaned after her trunkless mother was translocated - she lost most of her trunk due to snares in the Shimba Hills, and didn’t survive the translocation. Shimba, only 6 weeks old, was rescued and now lives with a family of baby elephants on whom she depends for comfort and elephant love.

These older babies are soon to go back to the wild in a slow release programme in Kenyas largest National Park, Tsavo East. For now they enjoy Daphne Sheldricks back yard and visitors are free to see them every day from 10 am to 11.30 am.

A recent study suggests that elephants can ’sniff you out’ and tell what tribe you are. Shocking isn’t it! If I had a nose that long I wonder if anyone would believe anything I said! The study reveals that while you might love elephants - the love may not be returned if you have a certain whiff…..

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