One thing about elephants that amazes me is their loyalty to those of their kind. These magnificent creatures always stick together and get really emotional when a member of their close surrounding dies. In such cases, they mourn and express grief just like the humans do.
This is why it’s extremely sad when a little one is left without its mom because of poachers who kill them for their tusks. The babies that end up orphans as a result of people’s cruelty and greed experience severe emotional crisis.
Luckily, many of them are not left to fend for themselves without no one by their side. A woman named Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick is helping raise orphaned elephants almost all her life.
She is perfectly aware that the number of elephants in the wild is decreasing at an alarming rate, so she does all in her power to provide the little elephant babies with the love and the food they need in order to grow strong and be able to get back into the wild.
Dr. Sheldrick’s late husband, David, loved elephants too. In fact the couple cared for the wildlife together and keeping the elephants safe was their mission in life. So, after his passing, Dr. Sheldrick founded the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in his honor.
This elephant rehabilitation center is huge and the animals have plenty of space to run freely and have lots of fun along with their personal handlers.
The incredible devotion of Dr. Sheldrick for these creatures could also be seen by the fact that she developed a milk formula that is very close in taste and nutrition with that of the elephant mothers.
Once the babies are emotionally healed, they are transferred to the Tsavo National Park where they spend some time before they release them in their natural habitat.
Recently, Dr. Sheldrick started providing shelter for baby rhinos too. What she hopes for is that people stop buying ivory and reduce the poaching that has devastating effect on certain animals’ population.
The love the elephants feel for their savior, Dr. Sheldrick, is enormous. They express their gratitude for what she does for them by lining up and waiting to give her a hug.
“They’re not corrupted. Their sense of family is as strong as ours. Their memories are amazing and their convoluted thinking and reasoning is equal to that of a human … The caring and nurturing is far greater in elephants than it is in humans, and loyalty and friendship endures.”
Please take a look at the below video in order to learn more of the work of this incredible woman.