Off to join a new family

Not long ago we (the Amboseli Elephant Research Project team) witnessed a baby elephant, stranded and lost on its own, killed by two male lions. The mother of the unfortunate calf was never identified and the assumption was, it's more likely to be a first time mother due to their lack of experience. We have quite a number of cases of lost calves within the Amboseli elephant population. A recent example was on the 27th May as I was out on my normal field work when I received a call from Soila, the project manager, while driving to Nairobi. She informed me that Richard Bonham, who runs a camp in Oldonyo Wuas, reported that one of his game scouts, a Mr. Kirasi, woke up in the early morning hours on 27th May to a visit by a young elephant calf, which he estimated to be three months old. Well, guess what he said, "I caught it and tied it to a nearby tree close to my house". Huh? Maybe he needs some training on aging elephants. As a training manager in the Amboseli elephant project I can say, a three months old calf is a hell of a calf. He then radioed Bonham who flew to the scene immediately.

It's so hard to rule exactly how and why young calves get separated from their mothers and families. But in this case my best guess is, the family separated when they were being chased during crop raiding at Kimana farms, which are close to the Kimana Sanctuary. Why and how the calf walked to a game scout house is another story.

Upon arriving at the scene, I met with Richard Bonham and the game scout where the calf was already being taken to the nearby airstrip, ready to be airlifted to the David Sheldrick Orphanage in Nairobi. The little calf was so sweet and calm, following anybody who came near it. The game scouts were cooling the calf down with water and trying to give it some too, using soda bottles. It was healthy and fat and it didn't look stressed as it often is with young lost calves. Lost calves can get really stressed upon losing their family and they might end up dying. It still had pinkish ears with hairy body and the umbilical cord was not completely healed. Everybody around was shocked when I announced that the baby is barely a month old.

In an hour after my arrival, the David Sheldrick crew arrived and prepped the calf, injecting it with antibiotics, checking for infections and feeding it with special milk, which it guzzled very fast. Before its departure to a new home and family, Bonham and his crew of game scouts named the calf Mbojo—the area where the calf was found. The calf was screaming and kicking as it was taken into the plane covered in blankets, obviously confused at to what was happening. I was sad and happy at the same time, because it had lost its family, but it would survive. I can't wait to follow up on its status.