An Orphaned Baby Elephant

 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

An orphaned baby elephant named Moses is raised by a human mother

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."

Elephant Song

Recently, my husband and I were at a library book sale and walking through the aisles of used books, a title jumped out at me.  Elephant Song.  The title alone enticed me to add the book to my already bulging $5 sack of books. The cover photo and jacket synopsis did the rest.  The book was added to my stack of "must reads". 

Elephant Song by Wilbur Smith is an historical suspense novel taking place in Zimbabwe and London.  The book opens with a deeply disturbing and graphic description of the culling or slaughter of a herd of fifty elephant in the Chiwewe National Park of Zimbabwe. 

Since I visited Zimbabwe's Hwange National park in the late 1990's and saw several herds of elephant of this size, the opening events of  Elephant Song was even more appalling to me. Smith's writing is gripping and visual.  The reader becomes part of that unholy event. 

The opening chapter of Elephant Song brought back so many vivid memories of my visit to Hwange National Park and Zimbabwe in general.  What a life changing experience it was!

The Indian Ocean and The Elephant

Walking the pristine beach near Galle, Sri Lanka one hot sunny afternoon, my friends and I happened upon a man and his "working" elephant.  We managed to communicate with various signs and a few words that if I would buy several bananas for his elephant, he would let me ride this magnificent creature.

Eagerly I bought a huge bunch of bananas, ensuring a long ride on this gigantic but somehow contented and kind looking animal.  The elephant's owner patiently showed me how to climb aboard his charge.

Awkwardly and not the least bit gracefully, this very white woman in a brightly colored swimsuit made her way to the heights of the gentle elephant.  Sitting directly behind its ears and hanging on for dear life, the elephant and I, with encouragement from his keeper began our adventure.  We made our way down the beach and out into the ocean and back to the beach, stopping only when the rough trunk reached back to remind me that he was in the rather embarrassing situation (of having a gangly-legged woman perched on his back) for only one reason--another tasty banana.  Up close and personal with "my" elephant!

Did I See a Lion in That Cattle Truck?

I grew up in Western Kansas, where, according the state song, "the deer and the antelope play".  However, I can't remember having ever seen the deer or the antelope at play or anywhere for that matter around Garden City, Kansas.  Those are not the animals I remember from my childhood!  What I remember, though, are the polar bears, the elephants, the anteater, and of course, the lions!  Wait!  In the far southwest corner of Kansas?

A "Kansas" lion

Yes, the town of Garden City had within its borders an amazing zoo and my family often took long Sunday afternoon drives through this oasis on the plains.  I think I knew more about elephants, polar bears, anteaters and lions then I did about the native Kansas deer, prairie dogs and feared rattlesnakes.  The Lee Richardson Zoo provided all of us with a window to the world and I loved it!

Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kansas

The Zoo was, however, along the banks of the Arkansas River and one summer after days of rain in the Rocky Mountains not too far to the West, that slow-moving nearly dry river became a mad rushing torrent of water!  The Zoo and all its animals was directly in the path of the flood threatening the city.  As sandbags were being piled along the banks to save the town, intrepid folk determined to save the animals.

Cattle truck

Owners of cattle trucks were pressed into service.  Their cattle trucks, plentiful in Garden City due to the feed lots and packing plants in the vicinity, became the new home to all sorts of wild animals.  Photos in the Garden City newspaper ran of a lion roaring its displeasure at its temporary home.  To me, that photo depicted the depth and anguish caused not only for the wild and exotic animals of the Lee Richardson Zoo but for the inhabitants of one western Kansas town due to the Arkansas River flood of 1965!

How Many Elephants?

Yes, it is time to return to elephants.  This time, let's go to Zimbabwe, specifically to the Hwange National Park and let's go on safari.  Just the word, "safari" conjures up pictures in my mind of Victorian Englishmen sitting in their canvas tents being served tea while around the encampment the wildlife of Africa roam unafraid and unabated.

A pan in Hwange National Park

Ah, but my safari took place in the late 1990's aboard a jeep with three other musicians and our intrepid English host hoping to show us "his Africa".  And show us he did.  Jeffrey headed out from the opulent Hwange Safari Lodge with three wide-eyed musicians and their cameras stuffed into the back of an open jeep.  The wildlife was abundant from an enormously tall gangly giraffe with long-lashed eyes checking out those who photographed her every move to hippos rumbling like runaway tanks down a dusty road.

The Big Guys!

But where were the elephants on this safari drive?  We had seen several of these majestic animals from our hotel bathing in a pan or water hole a short distance from the deck where we enjoyed tea that morning, but I had hoped for a closer elephant encounter.  As with many things in Zimbabwe, one more turn and all Africa opened before us.

Elephants at Hwange National Park

Following a dusty path around a grove of acacia trees where giraffe lazily feasted and there we were nearly in the middle of a huge herd.  Hundreds of elephant!  Elephants of all sizes, some old, some young and yes, babies too!  Elephants everywhere trumpeting and restless with the intrusion of our little jeep loaded with four individuals who had never seen such a sight and one man, our driver Jeffry, who never tired of such an awesome sight.  Amazing! and forever seared into my memory!  In Africa in the midst of elephants!

What Is It About A Baby Elephant That Makes Us Smile?

Baby elephants at Elephant Orphanage

What is it about a video of two baby elephants playing in an inflatable swimming pool that made me want to start this blog?  First, it gives me a chance to put into writing some of those moments in my life that have made me smile and that I do not want to forget;  and, second, I hope my anecdotes/musings encourage you to interact with my blog and share the moments in your life that were ones of wonder and joy in your life.

Last week a friend forwarded to me a video of two baby elephants playing in an inflatable swimming pool while being sprayed with water by their zookeeper.  There was no way I could watch that without laughing out loud and enjoying every minute of video over and over again.  Those two little elephants were having the time of their lives.  They were playing with abandon, freedom, and pure joy.  That precious video brought back one of my favorite memories--my encounter with baby elephants and their keepers in an elephant orphanage outside the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

So, read on.  In the next post I am going to start this blog with the recounting of that elephant encounter and see where this leads.  To more elephant encounters or shall we look for kangaroos next?  Let's start this journey and find out.

Like I said before, feel free to join in and share your "it made me smile" moments!  Maybe you too have visited the Pinawela Elephant Orphange.