A Forest Bound Daughter (Part I)

An orphan calf drinking milk

Prelude to Part I:

The story of our adopted daughter - Kamok, is being presented in two parts. This is first part which deals about her journey from forest to nursery. Second part will unfold about her preparation for reverse journey i.e. from nursery to forest, and forever. May like to read on.

1.0 Preparation:

It was a cloudy morning of 1st of December at Nairobi. I had set out in search of a beautiful Christmas gift for my better half Sonali Sen Biswas. The gift should be too precious to give as well too unique to receive. However, instead of heading for a shopping mall (mind it that nearly two months back a terrorist attack had claimed several innocent lives at the Westgate Mall of the city), I drove towards Nairobi National Park of Kenya (Eastern Africa). Incidentally, Nairobi National Park is the only national park within a city in this whole world. Under this early cloud masked sky my destination was David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT). 

 

Welcome board

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was founded by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick D.B.E, in the year of 1977, in the fond memory of her late husband David Leslie William Sheldrick MBE. He was the founder warden of Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. Later, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was incorporated as a Charitable Company in the U.K. (2004). Angela Sheldrick, the younger daughter of David and Daphne, was actively involved with activities of David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust since her childhood. After sad demise of Dr. Daphne (13th Apr 2018) at the age of 84 years, the operations and running of trust is being looked after by Angela, her husband Robert Carr-Hartley, and their two sons Taru and Roan.

One hour window

In this month of December, the sky was overcast with moisture laden cloud. There were intermittent rains, sometimes there was drizzle and occasionally heavy downpour. The watery precipitation from sky was sometimes gentle while sometimes violent with gusto. In this not-so-tourist-friendly weather I reached my destination at around ten o’clock in the morning. The milk drinking session of elephant babies of the nursery of David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust would commence daily (excluding the day of Christmas) at 11 am and would close down for visitors by 12 o’clock (local time). The orphanage would open to the visitors only for one hour daily. During one hour session, elephant calves would come in front of the visitors for their share of milk, mud play etc. Because of that reason, there were constant reminders from my local Kenyan driver-cum-guide that I should not be late.

At David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, orphaned baby elephants (mostly victim of human-wildlife conflicts, poaching etc.) would be brought after rescue, reared till they matured enough for release in the wilderness. However, the expenses were prohibitive as it involved long term commitment.

Milk feeding bottles

Like any other day, on my day of visit too, there were many visitors from different corners of the world to witness the one hour playful session by the pachyderm babies. Entry fee was US$ 7.00 or 500 Kenyan shillings per person. Entry fee was levied and fostering contributions were received by the trust to raise the fund which was used for several purposes. Some of the expense heads were rescue operations, construction and maintenance of stockades/stables for the kids, logistics and transport, milk and food for these baby giants, medicines etc. and though last but not the least was the housing and salaries for the committed local keepers. In other words, till such time the orphaned baby was reintegrated to the wilderness, all requirements were taken care by the trust.

I paid the entry fee and walked through the red colored muddy track towards the arena where orphaned baby elephants would be coming for their share of milk. I also informed the office of David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust that I would be fostering one baby. The selection criteria were – a female child and youngest of the lot. That would be my Christmas gift for that year to my wife.

The certificate

2.0 Flashback:

It was early morning of 8th September 2013. The villagers of Kiparo Boma (livestock enclosure) on Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya woke up hearing some unusual sound. To their utter surprise, they found that outside there was a newly born (one day old) elephant calf desperately looking for her mother for food and comfort. Villagers immediately fanned out in the nearby forest area to find the elephant herd where from they presumed the baby might have got separated.

Kamok during early days (Source: Sheldrick Trust website)

But all in vain.

In spite of their best efforts, villagers could not trace out any elephant herd nearby to get her reunited back.

A baby drawn by milk bottles

They immediately contacted David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust at Nairobi. On getting the emergency call, the rescue team of the trust swung into action. The team with all necessary rescue apparatus and paraphernalia was airborne from Nairobi. It was flight of 40 minutes from Nairobi to Ol Pejeta airfield. On landing, the rescue team found that Ol Pejeta Scouts have already brought the baby from Kiparo boma to the runway of the airfield.

Rushing for milk bottles

The baby was hungry, exhausted and frightened. The team immediately gave her a bottle of milk, a substitute of milk of mother elephant which was developed by Dr. Daphne. Mother’s milk is very important for the first two years for the baby elephant for survival. After three decades of trial and error, Dr. Daphne was successful in developing an alternative of mother's milk for elephant and rhino calves. This substitute has helped in saving many lives of nectar dependent unfortunate orphaned babies of elephants and rhinos. Her expertise in hand rearing milk dependent new born elephant and rhino calves have saved lives of more than 230 orphaned elephants in Kenya. Besides, many more such helpless babies without mothers have survived through her knowledge sharing in Africa and India.

Feeding the kids

Meanwhile, the trained members of the team wrapped the child with blanket for comfort. They helped the calf to board the aircraft and she was put on drip for return journey.

On arrival at the nursery of the trust, where expert veterans were eagerly waiting for them, the health of the baby was checked. It was found that her limbs were compromised at the birth. Because of that reason the poor creature could not match with the movement of the herd. As per the unwritten rule of the wild, a new born elephant baby should be able to walk 20+ kms within 24 hours of birth. Since she could not, she was left behind by her own mother and herd. Though elephants are strongly family oriented, they take such decisions when the risk was envisaged for the entire herd.

Kamok, wrapped in blanket

While experts looked after her for well-being and treatment, the pertinent issue came up for a suitable name. The trust has a system to assign a name to the rescued baby in sync with the location from where it was found, to trace the origin. Thus she was named as Kamok, a name which was taken from the Ol Pejeta ranch.

A closeup of Kamok

With the passing of time, two major improvements were noticed. Firstly with the help of medications and care her wobbly legs got strengths and secondly she became closely attached with her keepers which were healthy signs for rearing a baby without mother. Because of separation anxiety from mother, at times such orphaned babies would go into depression. They would refuse food intake. In such situation it would become difficult for the trust to save the child. However, with God’s grace, Kamok grew playful, started playing with sand and red soil which were in abundance in the locality. Off late, she was found experimenting with her little and cute trunk. She began following her keepers to the bushes and other areas with other orphaned babies.

Here is the link of her rescue:
https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans/kamok

End of Part I. Continued to Part II.

Webliography:

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/news/updates/the-resuce-of-kamok

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp?N=299

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering.asp

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/updates/updates.asp?Rhino=&ID=985

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/9100415/The-woman-who-fosters-elephants-in-Kenya.html

Disclaimer:

The information provided in the article is for general informational purposes only. All information is provided in good faith. This is only for the sharing of knowledge with global reader fraternity. No commercial angle, whatsoever, is involved. Under no circumstances I shall have any liability for reliance on any information provided in the story.