Never Forget? Will they remember me?

On our way out of Nairobi, we stopped at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Here, they take elephants left in the wild (orphaned for one reason or another) and raise them - hoping to return them once they are old enough to fend for themselves.


Ranging in age from a couple months to a couple years - the elephants are available daily for one hour to watch, pet, and generally gawk at. The center is always willing to take donations (surprised?) and you can even "adopt" an elephant for a mere $25. It might be worth it - if you're heading to Nairobi (and you like elephants). If you're the "parent" you can arrange a one-on-one visit and you'll be able to feed your elephant during your visit. Plus, hey - who wouldn't want to be a foster parent to an orphaned elephant?

So yeah, I guess this shouldn't be a surprise, but there was plenty of wildlife on this trip (dur - it's Africa). As for the elephants, as you can see in the video, no one was really quite sure how to predict them. You gotta be on your toes with them, unless you want them on your toes. Ouch.

They guys in green are the trainers (there's probably a better wor d than "trainer" - maybe "keeper?" Since they're not training them per-se), and the elephants get really "attached" to them. Raising elephants is no easy task. They have 2 or 3 trainers per elephant and no elephant is ever alone. They even sleep with their trainers. True foster parenting!

They eat (among other things) insects from the dirt. Who'd-a-thunk it? What about peanuts? And the milk? 3-gallons, twice a day... I think. My memory isn't on par with an elephant, and it's been 2 weeks, so maybe my details are a bit fuzzy.

Speaking of elephant memory. It's true, they don't forget. Some have recognized their trainers years later. And they're very emotional animals. There are several reasons each elephant has multiple trainers:
1) Not only does the trainer need time off - you know, to do laundry, and send emails; but
2) If the elephant only had one trainer and it was sick or otherwise unable to work - the elephant would react emotionally to the loss. Having multiple trainers helps the elephants not be too attached to any one person too much, and they can rotate as necessary. Cool, eh?



The rest of the elephant videos are here.