Last September, my mother, sister, and I had the once in a life time experience of going to Africa.  My mother called me up at the beginning of August and asked if we wanted to go and I shouted with a resounding YES!!  I was so excited to go and experience a whole new continent I’ve never seen.  I started to ask my mother “Why Africa?”  She told me that she had adopted a couple of elephants.  I think I actually laughed out loud, thinking my mother is crazy.  I thought she was getting scammed into doing this trip and donating all her money to a fake foundation trying to capitalize on people’s emotions.

Elephants Grow Attached to their keepers

Babies are protected by older elephant

Babies are kept warm with a blanket

When we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya,  we were taken to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust where we were to see these “adopted elephants”.   I am SO happy to say, that ALL of my pre-conceived notions about the foundation, about elephants, and about the compassion these wonderful keepers have towards these amazing creatures were completely wrong.   I saw with my own eyes the actual elephant sanctuary where the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust rescues baby elephants and raises them.  First of all, I have never really paid attention to elephants except at a zoo.  While I was there I was able to interact first hand with these fascinating animals.   In fact, we were there the day they rescured a baby elephant who was only 3 weeks old.  I can’t tell you how CUTE they are too.  The orphans are raised by keepers who actually sleep with them.  The keeper’s devotion to their little babies are amazing!  Their social structure is very similar to ours.  They are adolescents until 5 years, 8-15 are the teenage years, and they mature right around 18 years of age.  The matriarch leads the pack and protects the young from the dangers of the jungle.

Here is the mission statement for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust:

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a small, flexible charity, established in 1977 to honour to memory of a famous Naturalist, David Leslie William Sheldrick MBE, the founder Warden of Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, where he served from its inception in 1948 until his transfer to Nairobi in 1976 to head the Planning Unit of the newly created Wildlife Conservation & Management Department. David died 6 months later but his legacy of excellence and the systems he installed for the management of Tsavo and wildlife generally in Kenya, particularly in the sphere of wildlife husbandry and ethics, lives on.

Charitable Status & How we Operate

Since its inception, the Trust has remained true to his principles and ideals, its modus of operation overseen by 6 competent and well versed Trustees assisted by an Advisory Committee of practical Naturalists with a lifetime experience of wildlife, local environmental conditions and the history of conservation in this country. In 2004 the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust attained US Charitable status enhancing its corporate funding capability under the guidance of the U.S. based Friends of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, all whom work on a voluntary basis. On 9th June 2004 it was incorporated as a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee in the U.K. and granted charitable status by the Charities Commission, its Charity No. 1103836. A Company Limited by Guarantee retains the overall jurisdiction of the Trust’s existing Trustees over the disbursement of funds generated in the U.K.

If you’d like to learn more about these fascinating animals who need your help, please visit their website and read the stories on each of the rescued baby elephants. You can also contribute towards their care by adopting an elephant at the website by clicking here.

I’ll upload a video I created for my family about our Africa Trip. Amazing clips of the elephants.