It was a normal day on the 19th of July down in Tsavo with the Voi elephant keepers and the Tsavo Mobile Veterinary Unit engaged in a normal day’s activities when they received a call notifying them that a calf had fallen into a water trough at the Sentrim/Tarhi camp.  The calf had fallen into the water trough at about 2am and was seen by the staff at 6am.  The call arrived at the Nairobi Nursery in the morning and the Voi keepers were notified and immediately made their way to the camp together with the Vet Unit. 

By the time the team arrived at Sentrim/Tarhi camp the herd had moved away leaving the desperate mother watching her calf helpless unable to do anything. Around the water trough there was a lot of evidence of the herd who had tried in vain for hours to get the calf out but had been unsuccessful.  The Vet Unit was used to keep the mother at bay while the keepers worked to get the calf out of the water trough and succeeded in doing so quite quickly.

The young calf, which was only a few days old, was very trusting of the keepers and once out of the water trough tried to follow them and the vehicle. The mother rushed forward to take charge of her baby who was finally free from and was quite hungry following its ordeal. It did not hesitate to get under its mother and suckle to quench its thirst and hunger.

The team could not have hoped for a better outcome and it is endings like these that give us all so much joy.  The team watched happily as the mother and her baby left the area and headed off to rejoin their herd that would have been somewhere close by.  The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has managed to save so many stricken baby elephants and reunite them with their mother and herd, and this rescue is one that will be added to the list of happy endings.  We would like to thank Paul Broomfield, Mel Mellows and Lindsay for notifying us of the calf's predicament.