It has been an extremely busy and also, insofar as theTrust is concerned, a very successful year, hence it haspassed rapidly without us hardly even knowing it. Timenow again to wish all our Supporters and Friends, A veryMerry Christmas and a Prosperous, Healthy, Happyand above all Peaceful 2007 and to thank themwholeheartedly for their support throughout the year.

Daphne’s Investiture

2006 began with an unexpected but very pleasant surprisefor Daphne in the form of a call from the British HighCommissioner on New Year’s Eve informing her that HerMajesty Queen Elizabeth II had elevated her to a DameCommander of the British Empire (DBE) - the equivalent ofa Knighthood - apparently the first in Kenya since the countrybecame independent in l963. From now on she would be known as Dame Daphne, oneof only some 840 Britons world-wide so honoured there

being a ceiling on the number within this order at any onetime. Daphne was dumbfounded, since this was the lastthing she expected. Nevertheless, she cannot help but beproud that the work of the Trust established in memory ofDavid has been recognized in this extremely prestigiousmanner, mindful also that it comes as the result of theTrust’s very hard-working team of dedicated personnel,all of whom labour long and hard beyond the call of duty,and none more so than her daughter, Angela and Angela’shusband, Robert. It is they who now shoulder the day to

day burden of running of the Trust, thereby freeing upDaphne to be able to concentrate more on her longawaited Autobiography. This has had to be relegated tothe Back Burner each time a new orphaned elephant arrivesin the Nairobi Nursery and since there have been 70 sincethe first (2 week old “Olmeg”) came in, it is small wonderthat the elusive “Book” has been so long in forthcoming!

The British High Commissioner very kindly hosted aReception in Daphne’s honour at his Nairobi Residencewhich was attended by some 250 guests, many of whommade the effort to come from far corners of the country,quite a feat in view of the state of Kenya’s chaotic trafficand pot-holed roads. At the end of May she was atBuckingham Palace for the Investiture itself, this time PrinceCharles doing the honours, who was very well informedon the conservation challenges in Kenya. Accompanyingher were the permitted 3 guests - her two daughters,Angela and Jill (who traveled from France for the occasion)and her son-in-law Robert Carr-Hartley. Yet anotherReception in her honour followed the Investiture that sameevening, this time organized by the Trust’s U.K. Charitywith the help of Koan Public Relations Company, who mostgenerously donate £3,000 worth of free publicity to ourU.K. Charity each month. The venue was the RAF Club inPiccadilly, (just a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace),which was a very convenient and congenial venue kindlyorganized by our US Friends Board President, StephenSmith, a longstanding Member of the Club.

The evening was an enormous success, and better stillwas entirely funded by Angela through the sale of five ofher paintings at the function, which came as another wellhidden surprise for Daphne. Again some 250 conservationcolleagues, friends, relatives and dignitaries attended thefunction, including Their Royal Highnesses Prince andPrincess Michael of Kent, the outgoing High Commissionerof Kenya, Sir Edward and his wife Lady Clay, and RulaLenska who very generously donated in support of theorphans the entire proceeds of her Celebrity Big BrotherTV appearance. David Shepherd, (an old friend of Davidand Daphne’s) spoke amusingly and movingly about heraccomplishments, and our US Board members flew acrossthe Atlantic for the occasion (at their own expense). Itwas a day and an evening that Dame Daphne will neverforget!

Dame Daphne Sheldrick

Dame Daphne with some of the DSWT Team at her investitureparty held at the British High Commission residence in Nairobi

2006 NEWSLETTER

(Thanks to Robert Brandford ofDSWT U.K. and Koan for organizingthe Reception, to Doolhof winesfor their generous contribution ofwines for the event, to our USBoard Members for being thereand to all who made the effort toattend and help make the eveningsuch a success.)

Trust Personnel

The Trust now handles a sizeable workforce, but only four undertake the dayto day management, all the restactively engaged in hands-onconservation initiatives. We enjoy anenviable reputation for the efficiencyof our administrative commitment toGrant Donors, which is handled byAngela, assisted by Lina Sideras

(funded courtesy of our US Friends),and two Accounting Clerks. (There isgreat merit in keeping theadministration of any organization“lean and mean”, so that the right handknows what the left is doing at alltimes, and decisions can be takenrapidly.) Angela’s husband, Robert,oversees all the Trust’s Field Projectsin conjunction with our Field manager,Lionel Nutter who communicates withthe Trust H.Q. on a daily basis, whiletwo very worldly Messengers braveNairobi’s traffic jams on a daily basisacting as the Trust’s legs. A rovingMechanic and his one Assistantregularly service all the Trust’s vehiclesand equipment both in Nairobi and

Tsavo on a monthly basis, under theeagle eye of Robert, who insists onhigh standards. Elephant Keepers,who also take turns to do Yard Duties,number 43, De-Snaring personnel 37the Mobile Veterinary Unit just 2, (theVet and his Driver) who are assistedby the De-Snaring Team of the areain which they are operating whileCaretakers at the Trust House, theKaluku De-Snaring base, and theIthumba Camp number 5, Cooks forthe various Staff Canteens 3 andskilled Artisans such as Masons andCarpenters 4, three of whom areattached to the field, supervised byLionel. The Trust has certainly grownin the 30 odd years that it has beenoperational and is now a far cry fromwhen Daphne and her daughter, Jill,handled everything, including feeding

and sleeping with the first elephants,plus fundraising, with cap in hand,doing the rounds of Hotels and Clubsto talk and show environmental films.David Sheldrick always led by exampleand no Trust worker is expected toundertake any task that ManagementStaff are incapable of doingthemselves.

(We owe a great deal of thisyear’s success to our very activeUS Friends Board, all of whomwork entirely voluntarily to bringthe Trust’s Wish List to fruition,and who travel half way acrossthe world at regular intervals formeetings and to monitor the

results of their funding. We aredeeply indebted to our extremelycompetent US Friends President,Stephen Smith and his wife andhelp-mate, Jan, who work sotirelessly and so willingly for theTrust, to Brian Miller and Martyand Sue Moore who are alwaysmore than generous in theircontributions and to Tim Mott forhis wise counsel and concisevision, not forgetting the WorkerBees behind the scenes whosimilarly work voluntarily and veryhard, especially Kathryn Fenleyand the volunteers she mobilizeswhen extra help is needed.Similarly we value the efficientinput of Robert Brandford whomanages the U.K Charity, solicitsgrant funding, handles publicity,

keeping in contact with all our U.K.donors, and generally ensuresthe smooth running of our U.K.arm. We are also extremelygrateful for the continued inputof Mr. James Clark whose adviceand expertise is so valuable andlastly but no means least, we aregrateful for the voluntaryassistance of Pablo Lo Moro whohelps Angela with the format forthe Kenya Trust’s Grant proposalsWe are deeply grateful to MaryBarry, the Public RelationsManager of British Airways forembracing the Trust’s communityinput and Orphans Project.)

Angela Sheldrick

Below, a Brief Summary of the Year’s GoodNews:-

In Nairobi

! The rescue of l0 orphans and successful rearingof 7.

! The successful rehabilitation of our 2 orphanedrhinos.

! A new Veterinary Drug and Milk Store for theNursery.

! Upgrading the Nursery Elephant stables andStockades.

! The success of the BBC’s “Elephant Diaries” bothin the U.K. and USA.

! A marked increase in the number of visitors to theTrust on a daily basis.

! The Orphans Project featured on CBS 60 Minutesin the U.S.A. and Australia.

! The January U.K. update of “Elephant Diaries”.

! The Filming by the BBC of “Elephant Diaries II”due to be released next Spring.

! The resulting increase in tourism as a result ofthe above exposure.

InTsavo

! The funding of a detailed Management Plan forTsavo.

! The popularity and success of the Ithumba Camp.

! Extension and maintenance of the Northern AreaBoundary Fence.

! Upgrading and expanding the Staff Quarters atIthumba.

! A third Elephant Stockade at Ithumba.

! The progress and adventures of the orphans atboth Tsavo Rehabilitation Units.

! The establishment of a seventh De-Snaring Teamfor Chyulu National Park.

! Training of our De-Snarers by the British ArmyPeace Support Team.

! The establishment of Rhino Release Holding Pensin the Tsavo Triangle.

! Upgrading the Voi Elephant Stockades.

! A new Lorry to cart cut greens to the Voi Orphansfor night fodder.

! Addition of stables to house orphans other thanelephants, currently a zebra foal and a baby kudu.

! The establishment of a Tree Nursery on the TrustLand at Mtito and at Voi.

! The Trust’s Community initiatives around Tsavo.

! The sighting of ex orphans “Eleanor” and “Mary”and their wildborn offspring.

! Emily and others, hand-reared from early infancy,now rehabilitated.

! The provision of a new borehole at the KamboyoH.Q. for Tsavo West.

! The work of our Mobile Veterinary Unit.

! The formation of a Second Mobile Veterinary Unitfor the Masai Mara, Naivasha and Nakuru.

Voi Stables

Voi Unit Lorry

Desnaring Team training

Ithumba Stockades Staff quarters

Now, A Summary of the Not-So-Good News

! Somalia in chaos.

! A growing Chineseinvolvement in Africa willexacerbate the trading ofillegal Ivory.

! The death of our little blindelephant “Ndololo”, and otherstoo damaged to save.

! The on-going droughtconditions within Tsavo andNorthern Kenya.

! Illegal logging, CharcoalBurning and Deforestationcontinuing.

! Declining water levels in allKenya’s Rift Valley lakes aswell as Victoria.

! The predicted catastrophicimpact of Global Warming onAfrica.

! The unsustainable toll ofwildlife for the BushmeatTrade.

! The mass incursion of livestock into all National Parks.

! The illegal de-gazetting ofAmboseli National Park.

! Pressure to reinstate hunting.

! The poaching of two freereleased rhinos in Tsavo Eastin May.

! Politics influencing theefficiency of KWS.

THE ORPHANS’ PROJECT

The Nursery

A serious blow to our Orphans’ Projectthis year has been the temporarily lossof a means of getting the donated“reworked” milk (time expired forhuman consumption) out to us, sinceour longstanding Carrier is no longerpermitted to carry charitable goodseven though milk for elephants surelyfalls within the category of“conservation” rather than“charitable”, since it is saving anendangered species. We havetherefore had to resort to purchasingthe elephant milk at the market priceto avoid endless wasted days tryingto extract it from the Customs Shed,not to mention the expense of doingso in terms of duty. For the veryyoung Nursery babies, SMA ispurchased off the shelf and for theolder elephants, a Milk Replacer isbought, neither of which come cheap.That aside, the contribution ourorphans have generated for Kenya,and their species, cannot be quantifiedin financial terms.

The benefit to the Trust and to Kenyaas a country resulting from the highlysuccessful BBC series “ElephantDiaries” has definitely beeninstrumental in the increase in touristnumbers to the country this year, aswell as its educational value inpromoting a better understanding ofelephants who duplicate humans interms of emotion, age progressionand life expectancy. In many cases,the fact that tourists have chosenKenya as a destination rather thanSouthern Africa is simply because ofthe impact of Elephant Diaries,something that is endorsed repeatedlyby the visiting public during our one“open hour” a day, when the publicarrive to enjoy the orphans’ mudbath.There has also been a great increasein the number of African school-children at this time, but whosenumbers have had to be limited to 250per day. All are eager to see anelephant and learn about them fromthe Keepers who care for them. Itmust be remembered that mostKenyans have never even seen anelephant, let alone been able to getclose to one.

BBC’s Elephant Diaries andCBS 60 Minutes

At the beginning of the year an updateon the orphans was screened in theU.K. and since then the entireprogramme has circulated throughoutEurope, Australia and even shown inflight on South African Airways.“Elephant Diaries” went to theAmerican public on the Animal PlanetChannel, and soon afterwards theorphans were the subject of theprestigious CBS 60 Minutes, whichenjoys a viewership of over 20 millionpeople, and again benefited the Trustwith unprecedented exposure.

This year, the BBC have completed thefilming of the second “ElephantDiaries” series, which promises to beequally as good, if not better than, thefirst.

The Trust’s innovative FosteringProgramme, the brain-child of Angelain conjunction with our web-master,Paul MacKenzie, has provedimmensely popular and generatesongoing funding to help cover theincreasing outlay involved in rearinglong-lived species such as elephantsand rhinos. The Trust has now hand-reared through the Nursery 70 infantelephants, 10 of whom are still withinthe Nursery, 22 growing up at theIthumba Reintegration Centre andanother 23 still dependent in the VoiRehabilitation Centre. 15 of our exNursery orphans, along with othersorphaned old enough to skip theNursery period making 26 in all arenow successfully reintegrated back intothe wild elephant community of Tsavo

National Park. Some of these havehad wild-born young, which they bringback to show their erstwhile humanfamily, among these the famous earlyelephant named “Eleanor”, who grewup to become the Matriarch of orphansduring the time of David Sheldrick.She weathered three decades oframpant poaching by remaining toembrace the victims of poaching,shunned until the age of 36 by the wildherds due to her affiliation with thehuman “enemy”.

This year the Nursery Orphans’ Nightstables and Stockades received amuch needed face-lift with additionalSensor lights installed as a securitymeasure to protect the Night Milk Mixerfrom running into a buffalo or wildrhino, many of whom choose to spendnights in the proximity of the Trust’sHeadquarters. Garage space abuttingDaphne’s house has been convertedinto a larger Milk and Medical Storefor the Nursery Elephants, madepossible by the generous donation ofRula Lenska at the InvestitureReception and making space for asmall office for Angela’s Assistant, LinaSideras, partitioned to provide workingspace for our two Accounts Clerks.

People who have signed up tobecoming Foster Parents, either on linethrough the Internet, or at the Nurseryitself, are, by appointment, permitteda more intimate involvement with theNursery elephants in the eveningswhen they return to their NightStables. Exclusive Viewing at 3 p.m.is also possible, but for an enhancedfee, and this is also becoming popular

with Tour Operators. However, oncethe orphans leave the Nursery forgradual rehabilitation back into thewild community within Tsavo NationalPark, visiting is strictly restricted toonly Foster-Parents, and then only inthe evenings at the Voi Unit when theelephants return to their NightStockades or by booking the IthumbaCamp in the Northern Area in order tohave access to those at Ithumba.

At the time of writing (mid November)this year we have been involved in therescue of l0 new infant orphanedelephants, 3 of whom subsequentlydied, all hopeless cases who arrivedtoo far gone for us to be able to save.We began the year with 7 infants inthe Nairobi Nursery, namely Lualeni,Kora, Makena, Rapsu, Challa,Zurura and the tiny blind baby,Ndololo, but the ongoing droughtconditions soon took their toll andothers followed:-

Loijuk

The first to arrive was a young bull ofabout 8 months, from Tsavo WestNational Park in an advanced state ofemaciation, who died the next day,closely followed by the second orphan,a female of about 7 months namedLoijuk from the West Gate CommunitySanctuary of Samburu who likewisearrived in a pathetic state, alreadygiven the name, “Loijuk” by thewarriors that found her. We were nothopeful of being able to save this calfeither, for tell tale fluid was comingfrom the trunk, usually a sign ofpneumonia, which is a killer, but sheimmediately took milk and responded

positively to the normal prophylactic course of injectibleantibiotics plus a night long massage with essential oils ofEucalyptus and T Tree. Most orphaned elephants whoare forced to share pasture with domestic livestock alsoarrive with an overload of stomach parasites, Loijuk beingno exception, but once these had been eliminated, sheslowly began to recover and at the time of writing is thriving.

Sian

The next to arrive was an Amboseli calf, the 9 month oldbaby of 23 year old “Soila”, well known to the Researchers,being a member of their SA Study family. Named “Sian”this calf returned without her mother after crossing into

Tanzania, but before a rescue could be mounted, sheaccompanied the family back again. She was next seentwo weeks later near one of the Amboseli Swamps, stillminus her mother, but accompanied by 4 large Bulls. Sincebaby elephants cannot survive without milk if orphanedless than the age of 2 – 3 years, it was urgent to try andcapture her, even though the presence of the bulls madethis a daunting proposition. Understandably, they did nottake kindly to the rude intrusion of being charged by severalroaring and hooting vehicles during an attempt to separatethe calf, one vehicle being that of Cynthia Moss herself,normally just a friendly observer well known to them. Thischaracter change obviously puzzled them, and after someanxious moments, happily they decided that discretion wasthe better part of valour, and began to move off, presentingan opportunity to isolate the calf, and capture her. To beginwith Sian was intent on flattening everyone in sight,repeatedly crashing against the bars of her Stockade butfollowing the example of the established group, sheaccepted milk overnight and after just one more day in theTaming Stockade, was able to join the others out in thebush. Today, she is the current Mini Matriarch of theNursery orphans and an extremely caring and proficientone at that.

Ndololo

Meanwhile, our precious little blind baby, Ndololo, wasthriving after a very wobbly start. His eyes were beginningto clear, enabling him to respond to light and notice shapesand the two Eye Specialists who had been treating him,were optimistic that he would make a full recovery andregain his vision. We were too, until the 23rd January,when he suddenly and unexpectedly died with practicallyno prior warning apart from some mucous in the stools,which otherwise looked normal in consistency. An autopsyrevealed an infection of the small intestine that had spreadtowards his mouth rather than down the other way, possiblydue to a lack of fibre in his diet to hasten the progress ofmilk through the system. Normally a calf of his tender agewould begin taking food from the mouth of another elephantand it simply did not occur to us that being blind, Ndololowas unable to do this.

There were no dry eyes that day and the death of Ndololowas a particularly painful heartbreak for us, all his Keepers,and his many foster-parents world-wide, who had followedhis short life with such interest and concern. The otherNursery inmates also mourned his passing, especiallyZurura, who had been his best friend. Having overcomesuccessive bouts of life threatening diarrheoa and lookeddeath in the face many times, Ndololo had turned into aplump, healthy, playful and extremely bright little elephant,even managing to kick the football accurately, as his eyesbegan to heal. He taught us so much during his brief life- about the mysterious intelligence of one so very young;about the acuteness and proficiency of the other sensesthat became so attuned that one would be forgiven for notknowing that he was blind. He could identify his favouriteKeeper in amongst all the others, and could walk withconfidence following the soft tapping of a stick on the

Jonathan Scott with Emily

Ithumba Orphans

The Elephants Nursery

ground, weaving his way through thethickets and avoiding all obstacles.The outpouring of affection that hegave his Keepers, and his trust ofthem, made little Ndololo a veryspecial baby who will live in all ourhearts forever. There are, however,always lessons to be learnt the hardway from every elephant that passesthrough our hands, and now thenewborns have a spoonful of naturalfibre (Isabgol) added to their milk.

Nairobi Park Wild Residents

By the end of January the droughtbegan to take a toll of the Nairobi Park’swild residents, mainly the residentbuffalo who grew thinner by the dayand congregated around the Trust’sHeadquarters during the night to feedon hay discarded from the elephants’Night Quarters, even marching directlyinto the Hay Store to help themselves.Although a hazard for the Night MilkMixer, at least they enhanced ourSecurity! Old friends such as Helmut,Hellier and Hardnut (mentioned inprevious Newsletters) reappeared,looking older and a littlemore decrepit, but hadbecome so accustomed tothe presence of theelephants and their Keepersthat they were benign.

The plight of the Park’s wildresidents was exacerbatedby the intrusion of hordes ofstarving and sick Masailivestock, about which KWScould do little, since thePresident had decreed that

domestic herds be allowed to grazeany public land during the drought,having turned their own pastures intoa dustbowl due to overstocking. That,of course, included the National Parks,even though the wild animals were alsosuffering due to the extremely dryconditions.

Magnum

Meanwhile, our orphaned rhinoMagnum (now 8 years old) washaving a hard time from a Nairobi Parkwild inmate, (probably displaced bythe cattle) who forced him to retreatback to Home Base at Trust H.Q.Usually a docile character, Magnumwas unusually nervous and irasciblehaving come off second best during apunch-up with the wild adversary.With the permission of KWS, andmindful of the Makosa tragedy, webegan to make preparations to movehim to the Tsavo Triangle so work wasinitiated on Holding facilities in theTriangle where he could be closelymonitored by a nearby KWS Outpostand also by our Mtito De-Snaring team

based at Kaluku. As it happened,however, KWS decided to move 10Nairobi Park rhinos to Meru Park andobviously amongst them wasMagnum’s antagonist, becauseovernight his demeanor changed.Soon he was back in the territory hehad carved out for himself on the plainsbelow the Trust H.Q. and became hisold doci le self, returning onlyinfrequently to make sure that all wasas it should be back at home. Beingconfident that he is now an establishedmember of the wild Nairobi Park rhinocommunity, and since the translocationof such fiercely territorial animalsimposes enormous trauma on them,his relocation to Tsavo has been puton hold. Nevertheless, the HoldingPens remain in case others need tobe transferred to Tsavo.

Shida

Our second rhino, Shida, who turned3 in August, decided that the time hadcome when he, too, qualified to be a“wild” member of the rhino community.Just 3 months old when his mother

died of old age at the IvoryBurn Site in Nairobi NationalPark, since being in our carehe has been dil igentlyescorted around the wildresident’s dungpiles andurinals by his Keepers, inorder to leave his “VisitingCard” at the appropriateplaces - a necessaryprocess in order tointroduce a newcomer intoan established rhinocommunity.

Ndololo Shida Shida’s friends

Magnum

This year, he began deliberately giving his Keepers theslip, turning up at the mudbath at a time of his choosingand returning to his Night Stockade long after dark, on oneoccasion accompanied by a grown wild rhino friend,something that astounded the Night Keepers who werewitness to this event. He enjoys chasing any wild giraffehe comes across, who obligingly run away, and he hasbeen befriended by the resident wild warthogs that frequentour compound, who find him a convenient shield againstpredators. When he takes a nap during the day, hiswarthog friends cuddle up close to him for warmth, andare also allowed the luxury of sharing the extra rationsprovided for him when he decides to return to his NightStockade.

Shida’s newfound freedom has necessitated reactivatingthe “hot wires” around the compound to protect the vehiclesfrom being used as Horn Sharpeners, and furniture heavedoff verandahs. Fortunately, rhinos are the easiest of allanimals to “teach”, for just one “zing” from the “hot” wiresuffices as a permanent deterrent and thereafter just asimple string barrier does the job. Like elephants, theyhave long memories!

Shida is now familiar with Magnum after many bushencounters, when they engage in sparring bouts whereShida usually emerges victorious, Magnum beinghandicapped by being blind in one eye. One day themudbath visitors were treated to Shida chasing Magnumoff down the hill, which caused a stir, but visitors to theTrust have learnt to expect the unexpected. On occasionsone of the old buffalo bulls turns up, and giraffe, bushbuckand impala are regular visitors.

Rearing the orphaned rhinos (Daphne has now hand rearedl3) has been a very enlightening experience, for manyaspects of their sophisticated nature is hidden to just acasual observer. Theirs is a life that is ancient and complex,orchestrated by hormone levels, chemistry and memory.Whilst rhinos are generally regarded by the public as archaicand “stupid”, in reality they are anything but stupid, and interms of Nature perfect for the function for which theyhave evolved, unchanged since walking out from theDinosaur age, evolution having found no reason to adjustthe model in any way. Shida astonished even his Keepersone morning when he suddenly halted in his tracks andrefused to proceed. As it turned out, secluded in a nearbythicket, entirely hidden from view, were two buffalo bulls,who could have proved a problem had they been disturbedat close range. Shida’s perception prompted the Keepersto take another route and as the moved away, and thebuffalo emerged from hiding, they were very glad that theydid!

Sidai

In February, the Nursery welcomed two further elephantnewcomers - the first, a female calf of about 18 monthsfrom Ol Pejeta Ranch in Laikipia, named Sidai, who againarrived in a pitifully weak state as a result of milkdeprivation. Had it not been for the timely intervention of

Orok

Lesanju

Orok and company

Sidai

Naserian with Lualeni

Zurura Taru & Lempaute

Batian Craig who alerted us to thepresence of this orphan, andsubsequently, Robert Carr-Hartley, whoinserted a drip into an ear vein beforethe Vet could arrive, we would havelost her to muscular dystrophy, acommon ailment for starvation casesfollowing the trauma of capture. Itwas a long while before Sidai couldget up from a sleeping position un-aided, but she gradually recovered andtoday, along with others, thrives at theIthumba Reintegration Centre.

Orok

Next to arrive was another Amboseliorphan, this time a young bull alsoaged 18 months from the O StudyGroup whose mother had been founddead some 3 weeks previously, andwhom, at Cynthia Moss’ suggestion,was named “Orok”. He obviouslyharboured unfortunate memoriesinvolving a blanket used during hiscapture by the Amboseli Rangers, forhe arrived with a violent antipathy toboth blankets (and humans). For 5full days, the Keepers who were withhim in the Taming Stockade wererepeatedly forced to take evasiveaction by scaling the escape platform,but fortunately, taking a queue fromKora, whose Night Stockade was nextdoor, he decided to accept his milk,roughly gulping it down beforeretreating back into a far corner withoutspread ears preparing for the nextonslaught! In the end, we simply lethim out in amongst the otherelephants, but no matter what ruse wedevised, all efforts to protect him fromthe cold by draping a blanket over hisback, were fiercely resisted. Instantlyit was dragged off, and kneeling down,he would pummel it into the ground to“kill” it!

Other Nursery Orphans

Prior to the arrival of the newcomers,Makena (rescued from Laikipia) wasthe smallest in stature within theNursery, despite being older than theyoung bull named Zurura, (rescuedfrom a ruby mine). Lualeni, (A starof Elephant Diaries I, who melted allhearts through heartbreak over theloss of her elephant family) had grownup to take on the roll of NurseryMatriarch following the transfer to

Ithumba of the previous Mini Matriarch,Naserian. With the departure ofNaserian, Makena switched herallegiance to Lualeni who doted on heralmost to the point of obsession, andthis rankled with Zurura. At the timeboth he and Makena were still beingfed next to a hung blanket againstwhich they rested their trunk duringsuckling, but Zurura liked his headactually covered completely by the

blanket which allowed Makena tosneak up on him and disrupt theprocess, obviously thinking that onlyshe should enjoy a feeding blanket!Invariably this resulted in a punch upbetween these two miniatures,necessitating the intervention of eitherthe Keepers or Lualeni, and providingendless amusement for any audience.

Zurura, who is mischievous, clever andscheming, has always enjoyeddeliberately provoking Makena to gethis own back on her, envious of herfriendship with the then Matriarch,Lualeni. He lies down to tempt her toapproach and then at the last momentleaps up unexpectedly in order to provedominance by mounting onto her,which is always grounds for yetanother punch-up! Besides baitingMakena, another favourite pastime isemerging from the mudbath withoutspread ears and a squeaky trumpetto chase off the new generation of tinywarthog piglets! One day, hedemonstrated intelligence by pressingup against his Keepers to get theirattention, then lifting a front foot andtouching it with his trunk, indicated thepresence of a thorn which needed tobe extracted. At first the Keepersthought he must have been stung byan insect, but upon closer examinationthey could see the tip of the thornprotruding from his pad, and with aquick pull, extracted it!

Kora

Having given up on Lualeni because ofher obsession with Makena, Zururaformed a strong friendship with Kora,who condescendingly indulged him byallowing him to win pushing contests.(All young bulls enjoy testing theirstrength in pushing matches, whichboost confidence and is a means ofdetermining rank and hierarchy).However, for the first half of 2006, itwas Kora who became the focus ofour concern, for the broken jaw thathe came in with, and which wethought had healed, opened up again,exuding small quantities of pus.Following numerous veterinaryopinions, the proposed operation toinsert slow release antibiotic beadingalong the jawbone, was ruled out. Notonly was the bacteria resistant tothe antibiotic of choice, but entailed

Kamboyo’s rescue

Chyulu’s rescue

Chyulu

two long life threatening anaesthetics, plus the fact that avery large artery runs within the jaw bone, so massiveblood loss could be expected. “When in doubt, don’t,” isalways a good option, and one that on this occasion wasshared by our Vet as well as Southern African experts. Itwas decided instead to give Kora a long course of penicillininjections (which left him so sore that he could barely walk)and then to get him to Tsavo as soon as practicable, in thehopes that his body might overcome the problem. Therethe vegetation is rich in minerals, and a quality of lifeamongst his peers in prime elephant habitat would boosthis immune system, Wild animals do have amazing powersof recovery.

Meanwhile, we were very fortunate to discover that wecould draw on the expertise of a Dutch Specialist namedMarleen LeFebvre, who, using a small sample of urine andsaliva is able to make a diagnosis. Marleen, now interpretsthe medical needs of all our newcomers, and has takenunder her wing older patients such as Kora, Madiba (whohas long suffered from another chronic condition that wethought was a lymph infection but turned out to be a thyroiddeficiency) and our weakling elephant down in Voi namedMweiga whom we thought suffered from a defective heart,but was diagnosed with a joint problem.

Kamboyo

March saw the arrival of 9 month old “Kamboyo”, a youngbull found wandering alone in the Tsavo Triangle, not farfrom the Tsavo West Headquarters (known as Kamboyo).He was surprisingly trusting for a 9 month old, with nofear of the Keepers, and just happy to have a bottle of milkat 3 hourly intervals, so he was therefore able to join theother Nursery babies that same afternoon, which wasunusual for a wild caught calf of that age.

Chyulu

The next to arrive was 5 – 6 month old Chyulu in August,rescued by our new Chyulu De-Snaring team having beenfound bogged in a drying mudhole on the edge of theChyulu Hills overlooking Tsavo West, where they operate.Since it was too late to arrange an airlift that day, the calfspent a night at the Voi Stockades, and was flown to theNursery the following morning. Being the smallest, shewas instantly embraced by the Nursery females, Makena

surprising everyone by taking a special interest in thenewcomer.

Lenana

September saw the arrival in the Nursery of yet anotheryoung female just over a year old, named Lenana, whosemother died from advanced septicemia on Ol Pejeta Ranchnear Nanyuki. Batian Craig, the Manager of Ol Pejeta puta guard on the body of the mother and her attendant baby,to safeguard the calf from predators until he was able toarrange her capture the following day. What had causedsuch a serious infection of the mother’s entire system couldnot be determined, but could be human related, since hercalf is extremely fearful of all humans, wary even of theKeepers who feed her milk. Such a deep psychologicalaversion tells its own story, so it is likely that this littleLaikipia elephant has been witness to some terribletragedies in her short life where elephants are constantlyin conflict with the burgeoning human population that hasinfiltrated their ancient migratory corridors.

Ithumba Move – Sidai, Challa and Orok

By mid year, three of our Nursery inmates had recoveredsufficiently to be transferred to Ithumba, namely Sidai,Challa, (an earlier starvation case who, like Sidai, wasover a year old when rescued) and little Orok who was still“killing” his blanket. With the onset of the cold seasonimminent, Daphne took the decision to send him to warmerclimes along with the other older two and a few monthslater they were followed by Kora and Lualeni.

We expected Makena to go into a decline following thedeparture of Lualeni, but instead she seemed ratherpleased to be able to take charge of little Chyulu.Meanwhile, Kamboyo moved into the Night Stockadevacated by Kora, next door to the newcomer “Lenana”,and seemed to blame her for Kora’s sudden absence,singling her out to be “shoved” whenever she came withinrange which has not helped boost her confidence. Lenanais still mourning her lost mother and elephant family,choosing to spend time apart from the others, and showinglittle interest in the younger orphans, which, for a female,is unusual. The grieving process is something all theolder orphans have to weather, and it can last for severalmonths.

Kora meets the Ithumba Orphans Benson Inspects Kora’s jaw

distress, allowing him to suckle hisears, and even standing with a forelegforward to allow easier access to histeats if Sian is otherwise occupied!Until he became accustomed tospending time with the two tiny Nurserynewcomers, namely Lesanju andLempaute, he divided his daysbetween trying to suckle either Sianor Kamboyo, both of whom wereextremely long-suffering.

Lesanju

October saw the rescue of the two tinyorphans mentioned above. The firstwas a three week old female namedLesanju who was literally brought toour doorstep by the Helicopter loanedby Mr.Halvor Astrup of Enoisot Ranch,and flown by Phil Mathews. HelenDefresne, who heads the recentlyestablished Milgis Trust and whoorchestrated her rescue from a remotetribal manyatta inaccessible by road,cradled the tiny elephant in her lap forthe journey. Too young to understandfear, once unloaded, the calf trustinglyfollowed the Keepers to her stable, andimmediately downed a bottle or twoof milk. Sadly her ears had beenmutilated by the tribesmen thatrescued her, a means by which theyidentify ownership of their livestock,but otherwise she was still in good

Shimba

October 1st, just a day after thedeparture of Kora and Lualeni, 6 weekold Shimba was flown into the Nurserywhich proved a distraction for theremaining youngsters. Thenewcomer was a casualty from theongoing KWS relocation of elephantsfrom the Shimba Hills National Reserveto Tsavo, as ordered by the Presidentlast year. The mother of this calf onlyhad a small portion of her trunk left,the rest obviously having been severedby a wire snare. Restricted inforaging, plus being weakened byrecent childbirth, she was notsufficiently strong to withstand such amove and died a day or two later,leaving her 6 week old calf. Veryfortunately, he happened to be spottedby a road gang, desperately trying tosuckle his dead mother in betweenclambering over her in a futile attemptto rouse her. He was very fortunatenot to have been killed by predatorsbefore being rescued by our VoiKeepers, and airlifted to the Nursery.

Shimba takes his milk very slowly, andhis terrible ordeal is reflected inmarked insecurity exacerbated bygrieving. Glued to the side of Sian,he cries pathetically wheneverseparated from her, usually by beingkept inside his stable duringrainstorms, since one so young with adepressed immune system due totrauma is very prone to pneumonia.Soon the tell-tale wet trunknecessitated a second course ofinjectible antibiotic to stave off thiskiller of elephant babies, so littleShimba is not out of the woods yet.

As a bull, Kamboyo has beentouchingly sensitive to little Shimba’s

condition and instantly drew theattention of all the Nursery females,even little Chyulu. Female elephantsdisplay strong motherly instincts, evenin early infancy, and only Lenana has,so far, chosen to remain remote.

Lesanju apparently fell down a deep18 ft. well dug in sands of the MilgisLugga by Samburu tribesmen to watertheir cattle. It was an outstanding featto have been able to pull the elephantcalf up from such a depth. It was thenewly deceased Chief’s brother, whowas responsible, and who requestedthat the calf be named “Lesanju”, inhonour of that brother. (We aredeeply grateful to Mr. Astrup forthe use of his Helicopter for thisrescue, and to Helen Defresneand Phil Mathews, who broughther to us, and have been soconcerned about her progressever since.)

Lempaute

Just a few weeks later, an even smaller2 week old calf was flown in, who hadbeen found all alone in the West GateSamburu Community Conservancy,from whence Loijuk originated. IanCraig of Lewa Downs relayed themessage to us that this baby waswaiting near an airfield to be airliftedto safety. Fortunately, she had beenspared the ear mutilation endured bylittle Lesanju, and apart from sundamage to the top of one ear, wasotherwise in good condition. Thesetwo miniature babies, when wanderingtogether, looked like twins, tiny Lesanjutaking on the role of “Carer” to thetinier newcomer, whom, the rescuersinsisted, be named “Lempaute”,meaning “Big pool of water”. Herarrival, at the time of writing, bringsthe Nursery contingent back to l0.

Shimba and his dead mother Shimba

Lesanju

Whilst tiny Lempaute is comfortable amongst the older elephants, and is adored by all, Lesanju, equally adored, is,however, more comfortable remaining close to the Keepers and recently little Shimba has joined this infant group,forming a threesome. All three babies need the hung blanket against which to take their milk, and whilst Lesanju looksupon herself as the Carer of the other two, not so if they trespass against her particular blanket at the milk feeds!Infant elephants are extremely possessive of the milk bar, and the hung blanket replaces the body of the mother atfeeding times, since the trunk must feel comfortable.

The Voi Orphans

“Eleanor”, the famous Tsavo elephant Matriarch whose reign spanned three decades, left to join the wild elephants ona permanent basis when she eventually fell pregnant in 1996, fearing that humans would take her calf, having seenDaphne periodically arriving to hand over new ex Nursery babies. (Orphaned elephants deprived of their naturalelephant family, are prone to hijacking the calves of others to rebuild their family, Eleanor herself guilty of this when shetried to take orphan Mary’s calf from her.) It was therefore a wonderful surprise to read in the Keepers’ Diary that “avery large tame wild cow” with 3 offspring joined the orphans briefly. None of the current Keepers with the Voiorphans ever knew Eleanor, but they recorded this unusual event on their digital camera for The Keepers’ Diary, and theresulting image was instantly recognized by Daphne and Angela in Nairobi. A subsequent comparison with earlierphotographs endorsed the fact that this “tame wild cow” was, in fact, Eleanor, who would now be in her late forties.She was then sighted again near the Voi Safari Lodge and filmed by the BBC Elephant Diaries II team, so after anabsence of l0 years living as a wild elephant, Eleanor has returned to renew contact. With her were her 3 youngsters,a ten year old, (obviously the one she carried when she left), the next a five year old, and a tiny newborn baby.(Many people who knew Eleanor of yore were distressed to read about the demise from snake-bite of an elephant of thesame name in Samburu, prompting a flood of condolence letters to Daphne, for Eleanor was an international celebrity

Voi Orphans

LempauteEdwin with Lesanju, Lempaute, and Shimba

in her time. We were happy to beable to reassure them that the snakebite victim in Samburu was not, in fact,our Tsavo “Eleanor” who is still verymuch alive and well.)

Mary

Similarly, it was another very welcomesurprise to read about the visit ofanother “tame wild elephant and heryoung” in the Keepers’ Diary, and thisturned out to be Mary (ex MountKenya Safari Club) who gave birth toa baby bull when still within Eleanor’scustody. It was her calf that Eleanorwas guilty of trying to “snatch”, andthis prompted Mary to leave Eleanor’sunit in 1994 and attach herself and herbaby to a more accommodating wildMatriarch. She was subsequentlyseen by the Keepers with this wild herdseveral t imes, but the eventphotographed for the Diary was thefirst time she returned to meet theother still dependent orphans after anabsence of over 12 years.

Lissa

On the other hand, 20 year old Lissawho was also a member of Eleanor’sunit, remains in close touch with theVoi orphans, and has with her 2 femalewild-born young, Lara and Lali. (Weexpect a third soon). She interactsregularly with our orphans, oftenbringing with her Mpenzi, another exorphan, who acted as Nannie to Lissa’stwo babies, and who also gave birthrecently, but sadly lost her calf to 12lions the day after it was born, a tragicevent that took place in August.

Mpenzi

Mpenzi is now 14 years old. That thelions were harassing the young motherin an attempt to kill her calf waswitnessed by onlookers at the VoiSafari Lodge, who alerted our Keepersto prepare for a possible rescue, sincethe young mother, who was alone,could not possibly save her calf fromso many determined lions. Every timeshe chased one off, the others movedin. Sadly, however, the S.O.S. cametoo late, for by the time the Keepersarrived at the scene, the baby hadalready been killed and the Keeperswere aghast to discover that the young

mother in question was, in fact, noneother than “Mpenzi”, found as anorphan near the Park Headquartersand absorbed directly into the Voi Unit.It was, of course, unwise of Mpenzi toleave Lissa’s protection in order to givebirth alone, but she was obviouslyfearful that her baby would be“snatched”. She remembered theKeepers, of course, and cooperatedwith them to try and drive the lions offher dead baby that she was stillprotecting, but as darkness closed in,both she and the Keepers had to giveup and leave the lions to their grizzlymeal. It upset the Keepers greatlyto see Mpenzi slowly walking away,temporal glands streaming, indicative

of deep distress. The next day theyset out to try and find her again, whichthey did. Still alone, and still deeplydisturbed, she was, however, not farfrom a wild herd. It was thereforewith great relief that the Keepers sawher again in October when she camewith Lissa and her two calves to takea drink, apparently looking relaxed andhappy. No doubt Lissa’s two babieswould have benefited from her milk,sparing her the agony of engorgedbreasts and we hope that next timeround Mpenzi will understand that sheneeds the protection of an older cowwhen the time comes to give birth, andalso to avoid the Voi Safari Lodgewhere the lions consort in large prides

Lissa visits the Voi Orphans

Mpenzi Mpenzi with her dead calf

mudbath and allowing them to climb all over him, somethingthat is a huge privilege. (Baby bull elephants always havea hero worship on the bigger guys). However, Uaso’spresence is not greeted as enthusiastically by the girls,whom he likes to pursue for “mounting” sessions. He hasthe “hots” for Edie, in particular, pursuing her ruthlessly,for repeated “mounting” bouts, which clearly she wouldrather not have to endure! After one such prolonged ordealthat left her exhausted, Laikipia, who had been an onlooker,and was obviously sensitive to her plight, bravely came toher rescue, challenging Uaso, who is 3 years his seniorand equipped with sizeable tusks. Although defeat wasinevitable, at least Laikipia’s intervention diverted Uaso,allowing Edie time to escape.

Elephants are highly intelligent and exceedingly caring ofeach other, displaying a definite sense of family and ofdeath, as well as compassion, caring and companionshipin the face of adversity. The Keepers’Diary, which chroniclesthe daily progress of all the known orphans in our care,and which is posted on the Trust’s website monthly, is an

and ambush prey that comes in to drink at the Lodgewaterhole. Gory scenes are enacted there almost on adaily basis during the dry season when water resourcesare limited.

Emily and The Voi Unit

Unfortunately, for the Voi orphans, the rains fell far shortof expectations yet again, and for the third year running,the search for sufficient fodder dominated this year. Emily,a recent Matriarch of the Voi unit who made the quantumleap into the wild community last year, has been diligentabout keeping in touch with her previous charges, nowoverseen by the next oldest female named “Natumi”. Twoother young females close to her in age (namely Edie fromLewa Downs, and Icholta from Marsabit), who are alsoNursery reared, have provided some competition for thecoveted Matriarchal role that became vacant with thedeparture of Emily. It is interesting, however, thatwhenever Emily returns to spend time with the orphans,meeting them either back at the Stockades, or somewhereout in the bush, she automatically takes charge again, andis greeted with a great out-pouring of affection by all thestill dependent group. When Emily decides to leave, shesimply walks away with little or no attempt made by theothers to follow her, except on one occasion in Januarywhen she took Tsavo off with her.

Emily’s now “wild unit” comprises herself and Tsavo, Aitongand Aitong’s favourite, Sweet Sally and, more recently,Ilingwezi who was escorted by a wild herd to Emily’s unitwho at the time happened to be below the Voi Safari Lodge.Since then, Ilingwezi returned alone on just one occasionwhen she joined the other orphans in their Night Stockade,and the Keepers believed she had chosen to come backinto the fold. However, as it turned out, not so, for assoon as the Stockade Gates were opened in the morning,she left again to meet up with Emily’s group, knowing exactlywhere to locate them. Yet again, this demonstrates thevery human attributes that elephants possess. Ilingwezihad simply returned to visit her friends, and like old times,spend the night with them, no doubt telling them all abouther new life, before returning to rejoin Emily’s group onher own.

There are many occasions when Emily returns alone tospend time with the orphans, escorting them back to theirNight Stockades in the evenings before leaving to join hernow wild group. Sometimes she brings Aitong and theothers along with her, and sometimes just Ilingwezi. Atother times she is with Lissa and her two calves andsometimes with grown male admirers.

Uaso

After a long absence, 10 year old Uaso turned up again inMay in the company of a tuskless cow and her 8 year oldcalf. He has been a frequent visitor ever since. Recentlyhe has been dividing his time between our orphans, orwith Emily’s group, or else that of Lissa. He is the hero ofall our young bulls, accommodating them by lying in the

Emily, Ationg, Sweetsally and Tsavo

Uaso

Eleanor and family

of elephant contraception to spare herthis ordeal. Dr. Henk Bertschinger washere for a few days in March toundertake this task involving just threeinjections with an annual boosterthereafter, something that can beadministered by Dr. Ndeereh of ourMobile Veterinary Unit. Elephants cyclefor about 5 days just once every threemonths and because we suspectedthat both Aitong and Emily may bepregnant, Dr. Bertschinger went offwith dung samples from both for apregnancy evaluation. It appears,however, that they are not pregnant,which is welcome news insofar as weare concerned, mindful of the fact thatwe lost Malaika in childbirth aged l0.Emily is now 12 years old, and hasrecently been seen in the company ofwild Bulls, so if she falls pregnant, shewill be 14 when the baby is due, abetter age to become a mother for thefirst time. Both Lissa and Mpenzi were14 when their first baby was born.

The Big Boys

Several of our ex Nursery elephants,now known as the Big Boys, are alsonow fully integrated within the wildTsavo community. These are. Olmeg(ex Maralal), and Taru (ex Tsavo), bothnow l9, 18 year old Dika (ex Tsavo);Edo (ex Amboseli) and Ndume (exImenti Forest) both now 17, 16 yearold “Ajok” (ex Turkana), 12 year oldImenti (ex Imenti Forest) l0 year old

amazing record that demonstratesand reinforces these attributes timeand time again.

One 8 year old cow within the Voi Unit,named Mweiga, has always been aweakling, unable to keep pace with theothers, reluctant to lie down for fearof not being able to get up again,daunted by having to scale any inclineetc. She is one that has benefitedfrom both Marleen le Febvre’streatment and also the supplementaryrations provided for her courtesy ofPete Fullerton, who also covers thecost of many of our air rescues. Ithas long been extremely enlighteningto witness the support Mweiga enjoysfrom all members of the group, whorush to help her up whenever shestumbles, and run to her sidewhenever she cries. Two, in particular,are her special friends, who unselfishlyhang back to keep her company, evenwhen food is short. Never far fromher side is the young bull namedSosian (from Sosian Ranch) andMweya, the little Ugandan female.Their constant companionship, care,and compassion is repeatedlymentioned in the monthly Keepers’Diary.

Mweiga will soon be approachingpuberty and since she is obviously fartoo fragile to carry and give birth to acalf, we decided to call on the expertiseof a South African specialist in the field

Uaso, mentioned above, 9 year oldLewa, who was translocated to TsavoWest some years ago, and 11 year oldLominyek (ex Samburu) who was withus for just 6 months before joining awild unit, having arrived when justunder 2 with a bullet wound in oneleg. It is always an enormous thrill tosee one of the Big Boys again. Upuntil now it has been Dika, Ndume,Edo and Uaso who have been regularvisitors, with Taru seen just once afteran absence of 8 years. Ajok, wholeft the dependent unit when 4 yearsold, has made a clean break.

This year the Keepers were excitedwhen they happened upon Dika on themain Aruba road, whilst traveling tomonitor the Trust’s borehole at Aruba.He was amongst 6 wild cows and theirvarious young, towering majesticallyover them. He was seen again at theVoi Safari Lodge waterhole checkingout the girls and on another occasion,passed by the orphans briefly as theywere resting under shade, greetingeach one tenderly with a touch of thetrunk, before moving on, obviously withanother pressing mission in mind.

Other Orphans

Currently also within the Voi Unit andunder the care of our Keepers are twoorphans of a different species - thelittle Zebra female foal named“Serena” orphaned by a lion in

DikaDika as a baby Mweiga gets her medication

Roan and Rukinga Mbee Serena Rukinga

Amboseli National Reserve, and another baby lesser kudu, named “Rukinga” who was rescued from a poacher by anunder-cover agent of KWS. This baby replaces the earlier one, named “Chuna”, who tragically died of bloat, leavinghis Orma rescuer distraught. This man was therefore delighted to welcome a replacement and has earned himself apermanent position with the Trust as Keeper of the Antelope Orphans.

The Ithumba Unit

Immediately upon arrival at Ithumba, ex Nursery orphan little Orok was instantly embraced by Nasalot as her specialbaby, and has remained glued to her side ever since, basking in her adoration and undivided attention, benefiting fromher protection from the over exuberant bigger boys. As his best Nursery friend, Sidai also enjoyed Nasalot’s protection,so it was Challa who, for a few days, was odd man out, and who felt slightly misplaced at his new home, despite beingwarmly welcomed by all within the established group, including the Ithumba Matriarch “Yatta”, one of four olderfemales moved from the Voi Unit to oversee the young elephants. Nevertheless, Challa soon settled in, special attentionbeing given him by the younger ex Nursery Matriarchs, Wendi, Sunyei and Naserian with Madiba making a specialeffort to befriend him. Now, he is very much part of the herd, often leading the way to and from the Stockades and toand from the Bush Mudbath. Being “Leader” is an enormous privilege, and one usually insisted upon by either Sunyeior Wendi, so it is a special concession they have deliberately given way for Challa.

It was very mysterious that on the day that Challa, Orok and Sidai were on their way to Ithumba, the other elephantsall refused to leave the vicinity of the Stockades, something that was totally out of character. It was as though theyanticipated an unusual event that day, even though none of them had ever met any of the newcomers before. Thisastonished the Keepers, who have been deliberating about it ever since!

Lualeni and Kora

Once at Ithumba, Lualeni definitely felt the absence of Makena, even though she found herself reunited with three ofher former well loved Nursery Matriarchs, Naserian, Sunyei and Wendi, all of whom made a great fuss of her. Kora,on the other hand, slotted in like a veteran, immediately recognized by his old pushing-pal Buchuma and also by

Noon feeding at IthumbaWendi

Ithumba Orphans Sunyei leading

another Nursery playmate, Ndomot.All the Ithumba elephants wereoverjoyed to welcome another two intotheir herd, and the advent of the rainyseason, which always brings greatexuberance and joy, cheered Lualeniwho is now again a very happyelephant.

Wendi

“Wendi” is the extravert of the Ithumbagroup, who can always be countedupon to put on a display for the benefitof any human onlookers. Even as anewborn within the Nursery, she lovedan audience. (She and Imenti are thetwo raised from the day of birth, whoarrived stil l shrouded in foetalmembranes, and who, thanks to anintravenous injection of plasma takenfrom an older elephant, were able tosurvive).

Although the Ithumba elephants haveyet to make contact with the wild herds,(who are only just venturing back intoan area that they abandoned for threedecades due to the wholescalepoaching during the late seventieseighties and early nineties), theorphans are often visited by wild bullswho come to the Stockades undercover of darkness, take a look at them,and have a chat. As the scouts ofelephant society, the bulls travelextensively to recce safe passage andnew pastures for the female herds.However, the human scent on our

orphans, and their friendship with theirhuman carers, has so far proved adeterrent, but no doubt this willchange, given time.

Following the March April rains, whichin the Northern Area were moreplentiful than around around Voi, theIthumba unit enjoyed what is knownas “the Imenti waterhole”, a largeshallow natural depression that fillswith rainwater and was a favouriteplace of ex orphan “Imenti”, thepioneer orphan of the North, now livingwild. The Imenti waterhole is also afavourite watering place for the wildelephants during the wet seasons, butagain, under cover of darkness -somewhere where they can enjoyfresh rain water as opposed to the verysaline water of the Tiva sand-river onwhich they have to rely during the longdry seasons.

Imenti

It took Imenti a full year before he wasable to make contact with his wildpeers. Eventually, however, hemanaged to befriend a large wild bull,and we often wonder whether he isamong the nocturnal male visitors tothe Stockades at night, especially ason one occasion the Keepers reportedan unusually unafraid bull caller.Because it took him so long to beaccepted by the wild community, he isprobably reluctant to renew human

contact that would put him out ofbounds again. Meanwhile, the olderfemales amongst the Ithumbaorphans, Yatta, Nasalot, Mulika andKinna, having often associated withwild elephants whilst at Voi, aredesperate to again make contact withtheir wild kin, often following theirspoor for long distances, before givingup and turning back.

Sunyei

Whilst Wendi is the “Show-Off”,“Sunyei” is the prankster of the group,relishing scaring her friends byrushing out of the thickets as thoughthreatened in order to send the othersfleeing back to their Keepers forprotection whilst, she meanwhile,smugly enjoys the chaos! The olderelephants now have her measure, andignore these deliberate pranks, butsince the Ithumba unit regularlyencounter the resident pack of wilddogs, and are paranoid about allcanines following the rabid dogincident two years ago, Sunyei canalways count on at least some of thegroup reacting in the way intended!

However, a noteworthy andremarkable event involving Sunyeioccurred during the April/May rainswhen the orphans split into two groupson their way to the mudbath, one ledby Yatta who took the older elephantsoff to forage while the milk dependent

Ithumba Orphans

youngsters, led by Sunyei went to the milk venue. Yatta’sgroup failed to turn up at the mudbath as usual, so theKeepers decided that they must mount a search for theirlost charges. However, drizzling rain obliterated all tracks,so whilst the men stood around wondering which directionto take, Sunyei deliberately walked up to them, touchedthem with her trunk to get their attention and then turnedon her heels and determinedly walked away, pausing everynow and then to raise her trunk and test the wind for scent.Understanding that she was leading them somewhere fora reason, the Keepers and the younger orphans followedand after a long walk of more than an hour, suddenly cameupon Yatta and the missing contingent quietly feeding in aclearing! This again astonished the Keepers. Havingaccurately interpreted their dilemma, Sunyei had takencharge and solved the issue by leadingthem to the missing group, where avery touching and joyous reunion tookplace, dominated by trumpeting,urinating and the intertwining oftrunks!

During periods of rainfall, the orphans’days are filled with fun, playing in thepuddles, mud-wallowing in naturaldepressions, drinking clean rainwaterfrom rock pools, and chasing smallerintruders that they happen upon, (aslong as they run away) such asdikdiks, lesser kudus, ground squirrelsand the ubiquitous baboons. Only thewild dogs leave them in total disarray,on one occasion causing the group toflee in separate directions. Mulikafled with some in the oppositedirection to the youngsters, who wereheading for home as fast as their legs

could carry them, bellowing with fright. Only the Keepersand Yatta remained behind to disperse the dogs, but havingdone so, Yatta rushed back to the Stockades to round upthe youngsters and comfort them, whilst the Keepers wentin search of Mulika’s group. Happily, all were eventuallyreunited albeit trembling with fear!

Kinna, is the disciplinarian of the group, who punishes anyof the bigger boys by sending them into isolation for awhile if they are guilty of bullying those younger. Bullyingis out of bounds in elephant society and it is the femaleswho enforce the rules, and who come to the rescue ofanyone in distress!

THE ITHUMBA CAMP

This was built by the Trust with thepayment received from the BBC forthe filming of “Elephant Diaries”, andhas since been donated to KWS toraise funding for the Northern Area.It has proved immensely popular. TheTrust retains responsibility forbookings, and for overseeing theCamp to ensure that standards aremaintained. It is fully furnished,comprising an attractive living areawith an upper balcony commandingstunning views of 3,000 square milesof pristine wilderness, 3 separatesleeping tents each with an open airbathroom attached which is enclosedwithin a rugged stone wall. There ispiping hot solar heated water forshowering, and water-born toilets sovisitors, who have to book the entirecamp, only have to bring their ownfood, and leave with their litter upon

Ithumba Orphans

Ithumba camp bedroom tent

departure. The Kitchen unit isequipped with a large fridge and GasCooker and crockery and cutlery is alsoprovided. Waste kitchen watercleansed through a natural “shmoozedeck” of sand and lava serves a smallwatering facility for wildlife, partiallycovered to inhibit evaporation, sincewater is precious in the North, and hasto be carted to the camp holding tanksin the Trust’s Bowser. The NorthernArea of Tsavo, due to its arid natureand remoteness, has always beenclosed to the general public, protectedas a Wilderness Area for a morediscerning clientele.

Wilderness

In today’s world, people seemcompelled to seek ways and means ofdeveloping wild places as though tojustify its very existence, viewing it as“wasted” unless subjected to humanintervention. Remote Wilderness isboth hazardous for travelers notaccustomed to its pitfalls, and alsofragile, particularly in arid areas. But,it has a unique and subtle value thatis incalculable in monitory terms and

that is the long-term survival of itsnatural self as intended by Nature.Encompassed within this survival isNature’s most powerful tool – NaturalSelection, which distils out geneticdefects and ensures a stronger andhealthier biodiversity perfectly suitedto the environment in which it naturallyexists. Wilderness is the biologicalengine room that powers the planet,purifying water and air, generatingoxygen upon which all life depends,storing and recycling the minerals andvitamins essential to wellbeing andyielding the raw materials from whichmedicines are made. It is thethermometer of the planet, for no otherform of land use can retain its integrityindefinitely and it is the benchmarkagainst which all forms of land useshould be measured. It is also thenatural “control” essential to soundscientific monitoring, for man cannotimprove on Nature. Ultimately, it holdsthe key to the survival of mankind, forhumans cannot exist in isolation.

An editorial in the New York Times ofNovember 2nd had this to say –

“We keep probing the animalworld for signs of intelligence – aswe define it – and we’re alwayssurprised when we discover it.This suggests that something isfundamentally wrong with ourassumptions. There is everyreason to value other life-formsas much for their difference fromus as for their similarity and to actaccordingly That may be the onlyintelligence test worthy of thename”.

(Specific thanks for supporttowards the orphaned elephantsgoes to the followingorganizations and people, all ofwhom have made a significantcontribution and alleviated ourtask, above all our wonderful andgenerous webmaster PaulMacKenzie, whose workload hasincreased, as has ours, but whoinsists on donating his time andeffort free of charge. We arelikewise extremely grateful to thefollowing organizations andindividuals for financial support:-

Wyeth Laboratories – for theirdonation of “re-worked” milk forthe elephants and especially DickyEvans and Daniel Hill for theirextremely generous offer to solvethe transportation dilemma; toThe International Fund for AnimalWelfare, The Dutch Vrienden vande Olifant, Care for the Wild U.K.,the Eden Wildlife Trust, and Rettetdie Elefanten Afrikas in Germanyfor annual supporting Grants, andalso Terre et Faune in Switzerland,Elizabet Peterzen and ForeningenForsvar Elefanterna in Sweden,Aga Germany and the AmericanH.S.U.S. for their financial help.We are deeply indebted to PeteFullerton for his generosity andconsiderable financial support forextra rations for Mweiga andtowards airlifting others to safetyand to Sir Christopher Lever andthe Ernest Kleinwort CharitableTrust for the Grader parts.Thanks to Rettet die Elefanten forthe Ithumba tractor and RulaLenska for the Suzuki, to Marleenle Febvre and Rob Faber ofVrienden van de Olifant formedical assistance, to Horace andLynda Burnett for regulardonations of essential oils, toWoodland Park Zoo, USA, forblankets and antibiotic creams, toAOV in Holland for their donationof Vitamins, to Ronnie and CarrieWilkie for Calendula and Thuya, toLesley Cooksley and Didi Ruchirafor their homeopathic advice andassistance, to OrthicaPharmaceuticals, Holland, for

Ithumba Camp

their medical donations, to Lois Reinstadler Walshand Brian Cushing for Cards; and to others who havegiven us access to their photographic images of theorphans. We are grateful to all who have supportedthe Patrick Dokata Fund, and lastly, but by no meansleast all who donate through our US Friends andon-line to assist with the hand-rearing of theorphaned elephants and rhinos. We thank MichaelGavshon for the 60 Minutes piece and to thewonderful BBC Elephant Diaries Team, who havebecome close friends, for portraying the lives of theorphans so sensitively and accurately. We are

especially grateful to Toby Strong and his wife Beckyfor shooting for us just at cost the Trust’spromotional DVD entitled “The Tsavo Story” whichis professionally and so beautifully done. Finallywe thank all who have fostered an elephant throughthe digital Fostering Programme, as well as all whohave signed up here or contributed through our U.K.office ,or our US Friends. Thanks to those who haveremembered the orphans in their Wills and Legaciesand lastly thanks to all whose love of animalsprompts them to speak out about cruel practicesand abuse).

THE DE-SNARING PROJECT

The Trust now operates 7 full time De-Snaring teams, each comprised of some 6 men, a reformed poacher/tracker/informer and an armed KWS Ranger. All our De-Snaring Team Leaders, most of whom are Post Graduates, enjoyHonorary Warden status which equips them with powers of arrest, but they are not permitted to carry firearms – hencethe need for the armed Ranger. Anti-poaching work can be dangerous and life-threatening, for even a poisoned arrow,let alone an AK 47, is a lethal weapon.

Aside from their usual patrolling duties, the Mtito De-Snaring team managed to accomplish an unusual feat this year inFebruary, when they extracted a sub-adult, but still large buffalo youngster from a very deep well on private land not farfrom the Trust House. Even our Field Officer believed this would be an impossible task, and that the buffalo would haveto be destroyed, but our De-Snarers miraculously managed it, by lowering ropes and somehow getting them loopedbelow the buffalo’s body in order to haul it up, after which they had to rapidly take cover behind the tractor fearingreprisals!

This year, all the De-Snaring Teams were very fortunate to be able to benefit from additional training by the British PeaceSupport Team, who instructed them in Map Reading, Unarmed Combat, Ambush and Interrogation techniques, First Aidplus the proficient use of their GPS’s. The British Peace SupportTeam also arranged for the procurement of light-weightbush hammocks, field rations and other very useful items of equipment.(We are deeply grateful to Colonel Stephen Kilpatrick for organizing three valuable training exercises andto the men who spent time with our teams on the Trust land abutting the Park. We are deeply grateful tothe Alexander Abraham Foundation who funded the field equipment and expenses for the trainingprogrammes.)

The Maps and Charts on the following page illustrate the work and the success of our 7 De-Snaring teams as well as theareas that they cover. As can be seen, the number of snares retrieved has been systematically declining, which isgratifying but not necessarily indicative of a reduction in this evil practice, because the poachers have changed theirmode of operating, concentrating more on “lamping”. Under cover of darkness, they dazzle the animals with a strongspotlight, sounding a horn to get their attention, while an accomplice creeps up behind to hamstring and immobilize asmany as possible, before returning to bludgeon them to death. One poacher was arrested with over 60 dikdiksslaughtered just in one night, and another with sacks that contained body parts of a herd of impalas, so, this practice isno less sinister, and more difficult to contain. Bushmeat is Big Business, with game meat identified by KWS in mostNairobi Butcheries, and known to be exported in large quantities to the capitals of Europe, that have a large West Africanpopulation, and also to the Middle East. With all this, together with the Chinese market, there is no end in sight, otherthan resorting to putting all game meat out of bounds, as it used to be prior to l991 and enforcing that prohibition.

OPERATIONAL AREAS OFTHE DE-SNARING TEAMS

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

The Trust now employs twoCommunity Officers, who, in additionto delivering the daily talk andanswering questions at the mudbathhour, also represent the Trust atWildlife Seminars and Workshops thatare time consuming. An extension oftheir task is to lecture and show filmsat schools around Nairobi and alsoconduct educational field trips into thePark itself, combined with undertakingclean-ups of litter along chosenroutes. British Airways have verygenerously embraced the communityaspect of the Trust’s work within theirown community initiative, and haveinvited our Community personnel tovisit the U.K. and interact with schoolsthere. With their help and using thesponsored air tickets made availableto us, courtesy of British Airways, ourCommunity personnel will greatlybenefit by being able to interact withconcerned school children overseas.

Lionel Nutter

Our Field Officer, Lionel Nutter, alongwith the De-Snaring Team Leaders,supervises the Trust’s communityinitiatives that encompass ruralschools bordering the Tsavoboundaries. Besides the usualdonations of text books, desks, watercatchment guttering and storage tanks,Lionel is currently involved in upgradingthe existing Tree Nursery at the TrustHouse, and is in the process ofestablishing another at the VoiStockades, for the distribution ofhardwood tree seedlings to thecommunities. He will also beinvestigating the viabil ity ofencouraging the community to plantaloes, which have commercial valueand thrive in an arid environment. Fishfarming is another initiative he isresearching as well as bee keeping,

A community school nursery

A field trip

Desk donations

all of which will provide alternative sources of livelihoodfor the impoverished communities around the Park whoare largely responsible for a lot of the poaching. Lionellives alongside the Athi Park boundary, not far from theTrust House, so he is well positioned to oversee ourcommunity outreach programmes as well as supervise ourother Tsavo commitments. His experience and knowledgeof the area and the Wakamba tribe who occupy it, isunequalled.

THE MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT

This project is the Trust’s “feel good” conservation initiativethat has definitely impacted positively on the lives of dozensof animals that would otherwise have perished. Headedby Dr. David Ndeereh, (who by now must surely be themost experience Veterinarian in Africa) this year his Tsavocommitments included the translocation of a further 78elephants from The Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo,making a total of 228 moved in all, probably the mostambitious translocation exercise of elephants everaccomplished. In addition, he was instrumental in removingothers from within the electrically fenced Ngulia RhinoSanctuary who were impacting negatively on the rhinos’food source, threatening the rhinos with death bystarvation. KWS has been very reluctant to open up theNgulia Rhino Sanctuary fence and allow some of the surplusrhinos to spill out, citing security fears as the reason, but itis surely counter-productive to keep them confined andallow them to starve instead. For many years the Trusthas been urging KWS to open the fence and allow surplusrhinos free range, leaving a nucleus to breed up again.Tsavo once harboured the greatest population of BlackRhinos in the world, and could do so again given adequatesecurity surveillance and protection.

Our Mobile Veterinary Unit, during the time it has beenoperational, has treated, alleviated suffering and savedthe lives of the following animals:-95 elephants, 17 of whom were snared, 39 with spearwounds, 8 with bullet wounds, and others with injuriesthe reason for which could not accurately be determined.12 Giraffes, all suffering from having been snared.7 Buffalo, 8 lions, 4 impala, 11 zebra, l leopard, 4Gazelles, 4 waterbuck, l cheetah, a baboon and aHyaena. (More detailed reports along with a photographicrecord of every treated case can be accessed from ourwebsite.)

In the wake of the success of our Mobile Veterinary Unit,the Trust has secured funding for a second Mobile VeterinaryUnit to cover the Masai Mara, the Naivasha area, LakeNakuru National Park and its environs and the Rift Valleygenerally. This will hopefully become operational earlynext year. (We are deeply grateful to Mrs. Rex Dobieand the Minara Trust for providing the funding tomake this greatly needed unit, a reality.)

A snared Giraffe

Treating an Elephant

A snare wound

Treating a Lioness

ASSISTANCE TO KWS(Kenya Wildlife Service)

! ! ! ! ! The Management Plan forTsavo

A major contribution made this yearby the Trust, in conjunction withKWS, has been the funding of aManagement Plan for the TsavoConservation Area which is in theprocess of being written by IanGames.

The Management Plan is a verydetailed Scientific document based onlessons already learnt through pastmistakes, written by a person whosebackground spans decades of Africanexperience. Ian Games has writtenthe Management Plans for many ofAfrica’s most important National Parksand Reserves. The Trust views thiscontribution as perhaps the mostimportant it has ever made to wildlifeconservation in Kenya, that is, as longas it doesn’t sit on a shelf gatheringdust, as have many others!

!!!!! Fencing

Work on the 62 Kms. of fencing alongTsavo’s Northern Boundary, is still inprogress, and the Trust provides asizeable amount of money monthly forits maintenance. This barrier fence,which is solar powered, andmaintained by the community withfunds provided by the Trust has beenextremely successful in that not oneelephant has been able to get throughit since its erection. At the request ofKWS and the relevant Community, theTrust now looks towards accessingfunding to fence another extremelysensitive boundary from the Athi Riverto Mtito Andei and on to the ChyuluHills. This is another very importantand much needed project that wouldserve both the elephants and also thecommunity.

! ! ! ! ! Ithumba Camp

We run, and look after the IthumbaCamp which generates funding for theNorthern Area, and we are slowlycontributing items that will make it evenmore attractive than it already is,thereby enhancing its popularity and

A snare cuts across the face of a young bull Elephant

Treating a snared Waterbuck

Treating a young Elephant calf with a poisoned arrow wound

Treating a spear wound

the subsequent funds it can generate for the NorthernArea of Tsavo East.

!!!!! Water Bowser

The Trust’s Water Bowser, besides carting water for ourorphaned elephants, also supplies fresh water from theGalana river for the Northern Area Headquarters as wellas the Ithumba Camp, since all ground water in the Northis exceedingly saline added to which we cover allmaintenance costs for the desalinating equipment on theIthumba borehole, which has a limited capacity.

! ! ! ! ! Boreholes

We cover the cost of maintaining 6 boreholes within Tsavoas well as the Windmills at Aruba, Ndara, Dida Harea plusthe Community one at Kone.

Thanks to a generous donation from the SerengetiFoundation, this year the Trust funded the drilling of a newBorehole at Kamboyo to serve the Tsavo West ParkHeadquarters, something that was desperately needed.

! ! ! ! ! Security Fuel

By way of anti-poaching assistance, over and above the 7full time De-Snaring teams that the Trust operates, whocontinually work the boundaries of Tsavo lifting wire snaresand arresting those that set them, the Trust has continuedto provide Security Fuel, particularly for operations in theNorthern Area of the Park. There the elephants are onlyjust beginning to return following the poaching holocaustof the late 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s which reduced theecosystem’s elephant population from 45,000 to just 6,000.

!!!!! Reconditioned Aircraft Engine

With the help of the Born Free Foundation, and throughour US Friends, the Trust purchased a reconditioned aircraftengine from the U.S.A. for the Park’s surveillance plane.

!!!!! Helicopter Time

We have funded Helicopter time in pursuit of Somali bandit/poachers, which has proved crucially instrumental in thecapture of those that killed 2 rhino within Tsavo East inMay of this year, who were captured near Lamu, and thehorns and their firearms recovered.

We have also funded Helicopter time to drive elephants atrisk in community land back into the sanctuary of the Park.The community land between Tsavo East and Tsavo WestNational Park lies on an ancient elephant migratory corridorbetween the two Parks, which has been used by theelephants over millennia, so human/wildlife conflict in thisarea is an ongoing problem.

! ! ! ! ! Rehabilitation of Vehicles and a LaptopComputer

The Trust has rehabilitated a number of KWS vehicles thisyear and donated a Laptop Computer to the Senior Warden,Ngong, to help with the monitoring and recording of elephantmovements from Lake Magadi, and the Nguramans, usingancient migratory routes which today lead them into humansettlement and trouble.

!!!!! Mobile Veterinary Unit

And lastly but by no means least, the difference that theTrust’s fully equipped, and fully mobile Veterinary Unit hasmade in terms of alleviating suffering and saving numerouswounded animals that would otherwise have perished.

! ! ! ! ! Second Mobile Veterinary Unit

In addition, the Trust has now secured funding for a secondMobile Veterinary Unit which will operate the same way,and cover the Masai Mara, and the Rift Valley areas andwhich will be functional by early next year.(We thank WSPA most sincerely for providing thefunding for two of our De-Snaring teams; andSAFARICOM and AFEW who fund two others. Wethank Born Free for helping towards the cost of theaircraft engine for Daniel Woodley’s plane and ourUS Board for funding it; Martin Forster of CMCCorporation for easy terms of payment for theTrust’s new vehicles, a Tractor and equipment.)

Cultivation to the boundary of the park

Ndara borehole

ELEPHANTS AND IVORY – RHINOS AND HORN

A lethal combination has emerged for elephants and even more so, for rhinos and even the Big Cats whose body partsare in demand in the Far East. Somalia is in disarray with hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees fleeing into Kenyaand while the women and children are holed up in sprawling refugee camps like Darfur, most of the men are more thancapable of earning a livelihood through the poaching of elephants and rhinos, with a ready market for their produce inChina where ivory is sought as a luxury item by an emergent wealthy middle class that coverts it as an ancient symbolof wealth. With a mounting Chinese influence in Africa, we can anticipate an upsurge in illegal poaching for ivory, asseen in Central Africa and Zimbabwe. Rhinos will also be serously at risk for rhino horn has a great medicinal value inthe Far East.

Sadly, the poisoned arrow poaching of elephants also seems to be on the increase, and, of course, the Somalis pose aneven more dire threat because wherever there is conflict, ivory is exchanged for guns, it being much easier to launderivory than money under modern restrictions. We were present at the demise of one magnificent bull in the TsavoTriangle, who had obviously survived the slaughter of previous decades, being in his fifties, but just when he thoughttimes were safer, ended up literally riddled with poisoned arrow wounds. We flew a Vet down, and did what we couldfor him, but his entire body was literally rotting, pus even oozing from the tusk sockets, and one back leg so swollen thathe could barely drag it along the ground. At least we were able to end his suffering humanely, but it was verydistressing for us and disturbing for our US Board Members to have to witness such suffering inflicted merely for a tooth.

The following recent ivory hauls, (which are just the tip of an iceberg), tell their own sinister story, and while it wasgratifying that the CITES Standing Committee recently refused to sanction the one-off sale of the Southern Africanstockpiles, this was only because the MIKE baseline data was missing, bringing only a 6 month reprieve for the elephants.It has been demonstrated in the past that any legal sales provide a cover for the laundering of illegal stocks, and thatonly when the sale of all ivory was banned in l989, was the poaching brought under control. It is disappointing thereforethat the International body that is tasked with the protection of endangered species, seems more bent on finding waysand means to trade them. During the days of Livingstone (l883) about 4,000 elephants were shot each year for ivory,but in the decade l979 – l989, 60,000 were shot per annum. Between l970 and l989 Africa’s elephants had beenreduced from 3 million to just 520,000 and could have faced extinction within just 8 years had a total ban not come intoforce in 1989. This year has seen a record number of seizures, mostly from CITES signatory countries, proving that theillegal trade is alive and well.

!!!!! 200 kilos of illegal Ivory seized in Samburu, Kenya.!!!!! 200 kilos of illegal ivory, guns and ammunition seized in Maralal.!!!!! 600 elephant tusks confiscated in Hong Kong.!!!!! 21 tons (350 tusks and some cut pieces) seized in Singapore.!!!!! 30 tons of ivory (2,250 dead elephants) purchased by China from Zimbabwe.!!!!! 7 tons of illegal ivory confiscated from a Chinese Dealer in Zimbabwe!!!!! 500 whole tusks and thousands of bits through DNA traced to Zambia.!!!!! 100 elephants found slaughtered in Chad.!!!!! 60 tons of stockpiled ivory in Southern Africa (the equivalent of 3,500 dead elephants) identified

by CITES as sanctioned for sale, despite over 20 tons of Ivory having been seized within the past12 months in spite of supposed levels of protection.

!!!!! 6,000 kgs of Tanzanian ivory pilfered by Customs Officials in the Phillipines.!!!!! 22 tusks worth $54 million confiscated from poachers in Zimbabwe.

TRAFFIC representatives identified enough Ivory inAngola’s Craft Market to account for at least 250elephants, mainly from the Congo where elephantsare feared to be nearing extinction. Angola is nota CITES signatory and elephants in that countrycould become extinct within the next 5 years.Senegal in West Africa has only l0 left. Accordingto Professor Wasser of the Centre of ConservationBiology in Seattle, “Central Africa is experiencingelephant population declines that are extremelysevere. The whole market has reached anescalating level that is alarming” and he doubtedwhether CITES Membership and enforcement alonecould curb the trend. “Chinese Ivory Dealers areentrenched in Africa and tons of raw Ivory is leavingfor China. The poacher gets $25 per kilo and theIvory at the other end fetches $75 per kilo”.

Mai Mai rebel fighters, who have invaded the Congo,are known to be killing enormous numbers ofelephants trading ivory for guns, as well asannihilating massive numbers of other species.Estimates suggest that there could be as few asonly some 300 elephants left in this country whichwas once their stronghold, and it is probable thatthe last Northern White Rhinos have already gone.In Zimbabwe the previously protected so-called“Presidential Elephants” have been subjected towholesale hunting, which has impacted negativelyon conception rates of this beleaguered herd whichonce enjoyed the protection of President Mugabe,but sadly, no longer. Meanwhile elephants within

the Hwange National Park have been dying fromdrought.

CITES meets again next year, and has already given Japanthe all clear to be the Buyer of the Ivory Stockpiles, soconservationists and environmentalists will have a toughfight on their hands to try and save the world’s endangeredspecies from annihilation through the greed of mankind.

Climate change predicts dire consequences for the AfricanContinent, which, according to the experts, is set to becomedrier, many countries literally becoming deserts. This, inaddition to the threat posed by the ongoing Ivory Trade aswell as the unsustainable commercial bushmeat trade willundoubtedly impact devastatingly on wildlife. The illegallogging within Kenya’s forests, the burning of savannahhardwoods for the charcoal trade and the toll taken for thebushmeat business are challenges that the KenyaGovernment will have to face sooner rather than later ifthe tourist industry, and indeed the human population ofthe country, is to survive. Already we are seeing a worryingdecline in lake and river levels, so the writing is on thewall. And yet, the pressure to reopen Sport Hunting inKenya, banned since l974, grows ever stronger.

Wildlife Policy

A review of the current Wildlife Policy which included sporthunting, began in July and subsequently there was aclandestine attempt to rush the new Bill through Parliamentand into law. However, following street protests, thePresident declined to sign it. Since then a NationalSymposium (sponsored by USAID and Safari ClubInternational, both pro-Sport Hunting lobbies) has beencharged with gauging popular opinion countrywide aboutthis aspect of the new Bill, but the po-hunting bias at suchmeetings have caused widespread controversy in thatdissident voices are disallowed the opportunity to air theirviews whilst those in favour of hunting are alleged to havebeen bused in and paid out to hold the floor. The newWildlife Bill is due to become law by April 2007 and whistmost Kenyans are openly against the reintroduction of SportHunting in the country, which is seen as a “Colonial” relic, itwill be interesting to see if the pro-hunting sponsors of theNational Symposium succeed in influencing events.

If Sport Hunting is reintroduced in Kenya, it will impactnegatively on Tourism and Kenya’s enviable image as theonly country in Africa that does not kill animals for sport.Furthermore, it will add yet another threat to alreadydeclining wildlife numbers.

Everyone agrees that communities need to be recompensedfor sharing their land with wildlife, and the argument isthat re-opening hunting would allow for this. However,there are many alternative innovative ways of generatingfunding other than killing the goose that lays the goldenegg. Hunting will leave wild populations timid and verywild, ruling out non-consumptive tourism as one of thepossible alternatives. Furthermore, there is absolutely noway that hunting can be policed, monitored, regulated or

Robert Carr-Hartley and Vet Dr. Chege treat awounded Elephant in the Mara

controlled in a country wherecorruption is endemic. Money talks,the cheating of quotas and other mal-practices will inevitably take hold. Thisis something that has already beendemonstrated within the recent legall0 year cropping so-called PilotScheme.

The Trust has been at the forefront ofputting forward ideas of generatingrevenue fromkeeping animalsalive on private andcommunal land,rather than killingthem. One has beenthe idea of a “Green Tax” levied onCorporations and Companies thatnegatively impact the environment, inorder to compensate communities whonurture wildl ife on their land.Livestock numbers should also besubjected to taxation, since theserepresent monitory wealth for nomadicpeople. This would encouragepastoralists to keepfewer and of abetter quality.Privately ownedRanches that have asurplus of wildlife ontheir land should beable to sell themalive for restockingdenuded areas, rather than sellingthem as dead meat. Wild animalsare worth far more alive, than dead,and this will become increasinglyevident as their numbers are set todwindle yet further.

KWS

This year has seen many Staff changes,postings, and moving of experiencedfield personnel, often leaving the fieldvulnerably unsupervised. Included hasbeen the resignation of two key whiteWardens, Bongo Woodley fromMountain National Parks, and MarkJenkins, who is responsible forreturning Meru to its former glory.

Kenya’s National Parks were onceacknowledged as the finest in Africawhen immune from polit icalinterference, and managed by anindependent Board of informedTrustees. However, all this changed

on the 13th February 1976, when theKenyatta Government disbanded theParks Board overnight and tookcontrol. There followed the threedecades of rampant poaching, (a lotof it in-house), and it was not untill990 that the poaching was broughtunder some semblance of controlduring Dr. Leakey’s Directorship.

Politicians are never good wildlifemanagers, an example being the de-gazettement of Amboseli National Parkto win the support of the Masaicommunity to vote in favour of aproposed new Constitution. Accordingto law, a National Park can only bede-gazetted through a Parliamentaryprocess that allows a specified period

of time for all arguments for andagainst to be assessed, so currentlythe matter has been referred to theCourts, and everyone anxiously awaitsthe outcome that will impact on thefuture of all the country’s ProtectedAreas. Politicians, understandablywant to carry favour with the populacein order to be voted in again, for beinga Politician brings prestige andlucrative rewards ensuring acomfortable and easy lifestyle. KWSneeds a competent Board of Trusteesthat have the power to actindependent of Government with theinterests of that which it is charged toprotect, in mind. It must be freedfrom political machinations thatimpact on policy if it is to regain itsformer glory, and it must focus itsefforts more on the field rather thanwindow dressing at the Headquarterlevel.

“The greaTness of a naTionand iTs moral progress can bejudged by The way iTs animalsare TreaTed” mahaTma gandhi

“The furTher backward you look,The furTher forward you will see”.

churchill

Another disturbing off-the-cuff politicalannouncement was allowing livestockto graze any public land, which hasresulted in the mass intrusion oflivestock into all the National Parks,and endless complaints from visitingtourists who pay increased entrancefees hoping to see wild animals, andinstead are confronted with hordes ofstarving cattle, sheep and goats. Ofcourse, once allowed in, it is difficult

and time consuming toget them out,particularly duringdrought conditions,and although KWSattempts to do so from

time to time, no sooner are the cattlechased out, than they are back againwithin just a day or two. They bringwith them the risk of diseases that candecimate wildlife, an example beingthe Rinderpest epidemic of the latel800’s and the mass die-off fromAnthrax of Grevy Zebra in the NorthernFrontier just this year. Whereas cattle

can be protected byinoculation, wildanimals cannot, so,yet again, this is yetanother polit icalblunder. Nor shoulda Power Line runstraight through theheart of Tsavo,

when, for not much extra money, itcould have followed the railway line.A blot on the landscape such as thiswould never have been allowed tohappen in the Good Old Days whenthe Board of Trustees had autonomy.

All at the Trust would like to recordtheir profound sorrow and distress atthe murder of environmentalist JoanRoot on the 12th January at her homein Naivasha. Joan was not only alongstanding personal friend toDaphne, but also a brave campaignerfor animals and the environment, whostruggled valiantly against all odds tostall the destruction of the lake andall who live in and around it. She willbe sorely missed.

Photographs by Angela Sheldrick, RobertCarr-Hartley, Toby Strong, Lissa Ruben

and Gary Roberts

WWW.SHELDRICKWILDLIFETRUST. ORG

On line donations can be made directly through the website and all details regarding donations toThe David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust can be found on the website under HOW TO DONATE

IN THE U.S.A.

We now have a “supporting charity” in the United States, the United States Friends of The David Sheldrick WildlifeTrust (“U.S. Friends”). The organization has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt“public charity” to which contributions, gifts and bequests are deductible for U.S. income, gift and estate taxes.Because U.S. Friends is staffed with unpaid volunteers, all amounts it receives are contributed to The David

Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.Checks can be made out to U.S. Friends of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and sent to:

U.S. Friends of The David Sheldrick Wildlife TrustOne Indiana Square

Suite 2800Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2079

U.S.ATelephone: (317) 238-6218

Fax: (317) 636-1507Email: ssmith@kdlegal.com

IN THE U.K. AND THE REST OF THE WORLD (EXCEPT U.S.A)

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has recently become a charity registered in the U.K.Charity No 1103836

Cheque donations made out to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust U.K. by U.K. Citizens should be accompaniedby the Gift Aid Declaration which can be printed off the Trust Website www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org The Gift Aid

Declaration Form can be located on the HOW TO DONATE PAGE under U.K.

Donations can be sent to:

The David Sheldrick Wildlife TrustPO Box 133

AshteadSurrey

KT21 9ABUK

Telephone: +44 (0)1372 229 176Fax: +44 (0)1372 229 176

Email: infouk@sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

IN KENYA

The David Sheldrick Wildlife TrustP.O. Box 15555,

Mbagathi 00503,Nairobi, Kenya.

Telephone: +25 420 891996Fax: + 25 420 890053

Email: rc-h@africaonline.co.ke

www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.orgwww.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

THE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUSTP.O. Box 15555 - 00503 Mbagathi, Nairobi, Kenya.

Tel:- 254(0)20 891996: Fax:-254(0)20890053Email:rc-h@africaonline.co.ke

Website:www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org