Knowing my love of elephants and my experiences at the elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka, a friend recently sent this article to me. It is so touching I decided to share it with all the readers of my Elephants, Kangaroos, and More blog. Enjoy. ...Jeannine
Denis Farrell / AP
Seven-and-a-half
month old orphaned elephant calf named Moses cuddles with his adoptive
'mother' and foundation owner, Jenny Webb, at their home in Lilongwe,
Malawi.
By the Associated Press
Lots
of mothers wake in the middle of the night to feed their babies, but
not many get up to give a bottle to an infant elephant.
Jenny Webb adopted a baby boy elephant who was just a few weeks old
in February. The orphaned elephant calf was named Moses after being
found in the grasses of a riverbed by game rangers at Vwazi Wildlife
Reserve in northern Malawi.
Rangers tried to find his
family
herd for two days without success, said the 48-year-old Webb, adding
that the calf's mother was likely killed by elephant poachers. The
illegal killing of elephants is rife in Africa, with conservation groups
saying that tens of thousands of elephants are being killed each year
for their ivory tusks.
Malawi's national parks did not have the funds to raise the young
elephant, so Webb, the founder of the Jumbo Foundation an orphanage for
large animals, took on the job of caring for the little pachyderm.
Moses weighs 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and each day he drinks 24
liters (6.3 gallons) of an infant formula that is boosted with coconut
milk and 14 other ingredients.
Denis Farrell / AP
'Elephants
are extremely sensitive,' said Webb. 'It amazed me. We think of
elephants as big, strong creatures but they are very emotional. Moses
picks up on my feelings. If I am sad, he is nurturing. If I am angry, he
quickly gets upset.'
Webb has placed a mattress on the dining room floor where she and
Moses curl up for the night. Moses gets up about every two hours and
shuffles around the room until Webb wakes and gives him his bottle
feed. In the mornings, as Webb has a coffee and watches
television, Moses throws his trunk over her shoulder and nuzzles his
head against her.
In the wild, a baby elephant would shelter underneath his mother to
be shielded from the sun and remain warm and safe. To emulate this, Webb
puts a blanket over Moses. His still tender hide is also protected with
sunscreen and moisturizer.
Caring for the baby elephant is a
24-hour job. Webb gets help from two employees Matimat Julius and Jim
Tembo. All three take turns playing with Moses and using their arms to
sweep the dust, the way a mother elephant would do with her trunk.
Denis Farrell / AP
Moses
on a walk with Webb's dogs. 'The dogs are like his herd,' she said. "He
socializes with them in the day and likes going for walks with them. He
quickly established dominance with them. But at night, he herds the
dogs outside. He doesn't like to sleep with the dogs. He likes to sleep
with the cats, and me."
Like many
toddlers, Moses likes to go outside and Webb takes him on daily walks
with the family dogs. As soon as the sun goes down, Moses lies next to
Webb on the makeshift bed.
In a few weeks, Moses is expected to
start eating hay, grass, bark and horse feed along with his formula. He
has started putting grass and leaves in his mouth but he is not yet
eating them. By the time he is four he will stop having formula and will
be eating vegetation. And when he is five, Webb plans to reintroduce
Moses to life in the wild, possibly in the national park where he was
found.
Webb wants to make Moses "an ambassador for elephants" to educate people against wildlife poaching.
Raising Moses has been challenging, said Webb, "but it has been one
of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have raised children,
and this is very similar, but you can't put an elephant in a pram
(stroller)."
Webb said that raising Moses gave her the idea to start an orphanage for other animals.
"When
we got Moses we found there is a desperate need for an orphanage for
large animals. Elephants, hippos, buffalo, rhinos ... there is no place
for those babies to go if their parents are killed," she said. "There
are some places in Zambia and Kenya, but no place here in Malawi, so
that is what I am working for."
