A baby elephant in Northern Kenya was separated from his family and became confused when he joined a group of cows and herders from the Samburu community in the Ndoto Mountains.
The tiny elephant, who was just hours old and had a fresh umbilical cord and pink ears, was too young to know any better and wandered off with the cows.
Watch the video at the end.
The Samburu community cared for the animal, which had barely learned to walk until one of them set out on a 24-hour journey by foot to find help.
The remote location meant that a helicopter was required to transport the young elephant to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s elephant nursery, which specializes in caring for orphaned baby elephants. The animal was named ‘Ndotto’ after the place of his rescue.
The keepers at the nursery provided Ndotto with special formula milk and a glucose drip and administered elephant plasma to trigger his immune system, as he had not had the chance to ingest his mother’s milk.
Although he had been fed cow’s milk by the Samburu community, this type of milk can be potentially life-threatening for elephants, who cannot tolerate it.
Rob Brandford, the Director at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, explained that Ndotto will require full-time care and support until his reintegration.
He added, “We’ll do all we can to remedy any side effects and be by his side all the way through the weeks, months, and hopefully years to come.” However, a rescue mission like this incurs a huge financial cost.
The story of Ndotto’s rescue highlights the importance of conservation efforts and the work being done by organizations like the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to protect and care for vulnerable animals.
Watch the video below: