Here Come the Elephants

The Elephant Orphanage is for baby elephants who have lost parents due to poaching, drought, or the conflict between man and environment-- that is elephants messing with farmers. The ones we saw were between 4 months and 2 years. After that they are separated from visitors and moved to a place where they intermingle in the wild. They are cared for until they integrate themselves into the wild at about 8-15 years. Elephants nurse until they are 4-5 years old, so they can't live on their own until they are older than that. Even here at the elephant sanctuary, it's connected with the Nairobi National Park and they spend part of their time there.

The visiting hours are only between 11-12. We arrived early and met this worker and his tree hyrax. He'd rescued it from a cat when it was young. It's still about 4 months old. It's not a rodent, it's supposed to be related to the elephant.

We also had ample opportunity to watch the warthogs. These warthogs were not nearly as shy as the mara ones. We were very close and they seemed oblivious to us... until we tried to pet one.

The video clip is of the older elephants coming out. The smaller elephants came out first and were fed.

This is the youngest one. They bond with the handlers-- about 44 of them, but are smart enough to know the difference between the handlers and other humans.

They can't be fed cow's milk, so actually they are fed baby formula.... gallons of it!

They said if they lift up their trunk, blow gently into it to greet them. They may want to put your hand into their mouth, but don't do it. Only the handlers know where the teeth are... and are not. You notice the stout, imposing fencing that separates people from elephants. Occasionally the elephants would push out and need to be shepherded back in.

After feeding they went to the dirt mound and the handlers tossed dirt on them. It protects their sensitive skin.
And of course, they're babies. They need play time with balls, pool and each other.

Each elephant sleeps in it's own stall with a handler. When they are young and anxious (as in they saw their parents shot by poachers) they need someone 24 hours a day. And they are fed every 3 hours around the clock. To prevent them from getting too attached to one handler, the handlers rotate between the babies. Note the cot to the right where the handler sleeps.
We had a very informative lecturer. Elephants do have good memories. They must remember all the places they've migrated to find food. The oldest female is the head of the herd. That is instinctive. They are very sensitive to medications. They can become sick from interaction with domestic animals (cattle) and picking up their parasites.