ADOPT AN ORPHAN ELEPHANT-GIRAFFE-RHINO

Rescue and rehabilitate orphaned baby elephants, rhinos and other wildlife so that they can enjoy a life in the wild when they reach adulthood.

The Orphans' Project aims to provide hope for the future of Kenya's endangered elephant and rhino populations in their fight against the threat of poaching for their ivory and horn, and habitat loss due to human population pressure and conflict, deforestation and drought.


WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADOPT OR DONATE? PROCEED ON THE WEBSITE OF SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST.

NYAMBENI
OUR ADOPTED BABY ELEPHANT

THE STORY OF NYAMBENI

Nyambeni is alive today because an ordinary man acted and made extraordinary efforts to save her life.

Her story began in Mula, a small village in the heart of the Meru countryside. On the morning of 9 May 2022, a suspicious sound caught the attention of a farmer. He followed the sound to the bank of a shallow, muddy ditch - where, to his surprise, he found a small elephant calf screaming at him! She must have fallen the night before, when her herd migrated from the Shaba grasslands to the Nyambene hills. Wary of human presence, elephants traverse farmlands under cover of darkness and remain constantly on the move. Fearing what might happen if they stayed too long in the area, the calf's family was forced to leave their little one behind.

WATCH THE STORY OF NYAMBENI
TWIGGY
OUR ADOPTED BABY GIRAFFE

On the afternoon of 29 November 2021, one of our forestry patrols took a rather unique turn: instead of chasing poachers and following traces of illegal activities, the team diligently followed a baby giraffe!

Earlier that day, we had received reports of a small giraffe trying (rather unsuccessfully) to impersonate a zebra. There were no other giraffes in the area, and when her survival instinct kicked in, she clung to a passing herd of zebras. All signs pointed to her being an orphan, but to be absolutely sure, our SWT/KWS Burra Anti-Poaching Team tracked her down.

By late evening, it was clear that the baby giraffe no longer had a mother. While the zebras graciously accepted her presence, she was an easy target for predators, especially the notorious lions of Tsavo, who appeared to roam not too far from where she was. Dusk was fast approaching and if she were to survive the night, she would need help, so KWS called in a rescue.

There is no easy way to rescue a giraffe: no matter how fragile it was, even a baby giraffe has a lot of kicking power. The venture required a lot of energy from our team. As they drove slowly alongside the orphan, our field manager jumped out of the vehicle and successfully stopped her with a decisive move.

Twiggy, as we called her, was rescued in the Ngutuni area of Tsavo East National Park.

WATCH THE STORY OF TWIGGY
APOLLO
OUR ADOPTED BABY RHINO

An orphaned black rhino rescued on 21 September 2019 and is currently being hand-reared at SWT's Kaluku Field HQ.It all started with a routine aerial patrol along with SWT's Canine Unit, which landed and checked the hideouts of old poachers. 

They were also patrolling hard-to-reach water sources along the Yatta Plateau, looking for signs of poaching, when pilot Andy Payne received an emergency call from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). The senior director of Tsavo West National Park urgently requested the helicopter to help rescue a young rhino calf that had just been spotted next to its dead mother by Tsavo Trust Super Cub pilot Nick Trent. 

The young calf had to be rescued by ground teams before it was disturbed and fled too far from its mother. The veterinary unit would also be called in to access the carcass and determine the cause of death.

WATCH THE STORY OF APOLLO
ANTI - POACHING
PROTECTION OF ANIMALS

We currently have 20 anti-poaching teams in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and fund two more teams managed by Mara Elephant Project (MEP) in the Mau Forest, which conduct anti-poaching operations to protect endangered wildlife and habitats in Areas of Natural Interest within Kenya.

Ivory and rhino horn poaching, habitat destruction and bushmeat poaching have a devastating effect on Africa's wildlife and wild areas. Our skilled frontline teams, accompanied by armed KWS Rangers and supported by our Aerial and Canine Units, are fully trained and equipped to deter and prevent illegal wildlife activities and launch ambulances, with necessary arrests being made by KWS.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ORPHAN ELEPHANT