The following is information on the Elephant Orphan named: WENDI  (foster now)

Latest Updates on WENDI:

• 1/27/2012 - Yatta's first born wild calf
• 10/4/2011 - Wendi's Story
• 5/14/2011 - Moving Olare, Kandecha and Kibo to Ithumba
• 12/3/2010 - Suguta, Melia and Tumaren move to the Ithumba Unit.
• 11/8/2009 - The move of Kenia and Shira to Voi, and Enesoit, Meibai and Naimina to Ithumba
• 10/29/2008 - The Feel Good Factor at Ithumba
• 8/27/2008 - The story of Rafiki
• 5/7/2007 - Heart Warming Stories - THEN AND NOW -
• 9/30/2006 - Moving Kora and Lualeni to the Ithumba Unit
• 7/15/2005 - The move to Ithumba in Tsavo National Park for Sunyei, Galana, Ndomot and Madiba
• 6/18/2004 - Moving Taita, Olmalo, Selengai, Wendi, Tomboi and Napasha
• 5/12/2004 - Naserian's Rescue
• 6/18/2003 - SERAA, MPALA & MORANI GRADUATE FROM THE NAIROBI NURSERY
• 5/30/2002 - IMENTI (4TH MARCH - 30TH MAY 2003)

View to Location map for WENDI (opens a new window)

Most Recent Keeper's Diary Entry: (view all the latest entries for WENDI)

4/30/2013 - As the Juniors were pottering around the Compound in the morning, Kasigau scratching against a tree and Kalama against a nearby rock, the Ex Orphans passed close by, among them 5 wild bulls trying their luck to win over Wendi. The Juniors left the compound as usual, attended the mudbath at 11 a.m. and thereafter browsed until it was time to return in the evening.

The Two Latest Photos of WENDI: (view gallery of pictures for WENDI)

Wendi being protected from the sun photo taken on 9/19/2002	Sucking Julius's thumb photo taken on 9/18/2002

ORPHAN PROFILE FOR: WENDI (foster now)

Zoom / Enlarge She is an Imenti Forest Elephant, and arrived only days old, perhaps just a week, with a moist umbilical cord, soft black hair on her skin and a tiny short trunk. Being so young, she really has no comprehension yet, other than the fact she needs food and someone bigger to follow and be with. She was found in a swamp near the all but gone Imenti Forest, all alone, on the morning of 18th September 2002, the rest of the herd having fled, no doubt due to human disturbance. We have named her "Wendi", which in the Meru tribal dialect means "Hope" and we have named her thus, hoping that CITES makes the decision to hold the ban on the sale of Ivory, which will bring "hope" for the survival of elephants "hope" that the Imenti elephants will one day have a safe corridor to the forests of Mount Kenya and meet up with lost friends from whom they are now isolated by human settlement, and "hope" that the K.W.S. Warden of Meru, who was responsible for such a very efficient rescue, has a career full of "hope" within the Kenya Wildlife Service and above all, "hope" that little "HOPE" will survive. Rearing a newborn elephant always presents a challenge, which we feel confident to meet, as long as there are no serious physical defects. One ear is bent down the middle, like a folded piece of parchment, and we think the little elephant must have been lying like this in the womb. We feel that she may even be a twin restricted in womb space for the ear to have suffered such pronounced damage. We hope that the blood supply to the damaged ear will be sufficient for nature to work miracles and mend it. Little "Wendi" is miniscule, and is having powdered Colostrum in her first bottles of milk, just in case she is younger than we think and has not had the benefit of her mother's first milk containing all the vital antibodies she will need for survival in a harsh world. She has been given an antibiotic injection to prevent pneumonia (since she was found in a swamp). Since she is too young to understand the loss of her elephant mother, she faces the future without the psychological trauma that troubles calves orphaned older. She is beautiful, and can be assured of a love of tender loving care from her adopted human family, and foster-parents worldwide who care deeply about all elephants. Hold thumbs for little "Wendi" from the Imenti Forest in Meru.

Please see the resources above for more information on WENDI

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