Taveta's rescue

Taveta's rescue

Another quiet Sunday morning, the l0th August 2008, and yet another dreaded Sunday phone call alerting us that another Elephant Rescue was on the Cards. This time the call came from the Trust's Ziwani anti-poaching De-Snaring Team, which patrols the Southern end of Tsavo West National Park, and who had reported coming across the body of a cow elephant about a week ago, a victim of poisoned arrow poaching. Now a lone 8-9 month old calf, which had been spotted by tourists to the nearby Taita Hills Private Sanctuary the previous day had already been captured and had spent the night at the Sanctuary's Sarova Lodge. It was fortuitous indeed that the Wildlife Officer at the Sanctuary happens to be an ex KWS employee who had long been conversant with the Trust's Orphaned Elephant Project. He had already informed the KWS Tsavo East authorities and Joseph Sauni and the Voi Keepers were already on their way to the Sanctuary with milk formula and rehydrants for the calf which was a baby bull estimated to be about 8 - 9 months old, and who had been without milk for about a week. In all likelihood this was the calf of the dead mother found by the Ziwani De-Snaring team.

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