Introducing Alfie, the DSWTs newest and smallest arrival. On Valentines Day we received a call from a school in Nairobi reporting that they had discovered a tiny newborn hyrax within the schools grounds. The baby had somehow been separated from his mother and had been left abandoned and extremely vulnerable until one of the gardeners found the orphan and took pity on him. An hour later the new baby arrived in a cardboard box, although clearly frightened, Alfie as he has been named by Taru Carr Hartley, Angela Sheldrick's son, was in good condition despite being on the skinny side. He immediately fed well on his tiny syringe of warmed soya milk and spent the rest of the day snuggled up in Angela's office, recovering from his ordeal.

Alfie has since been continuing to feed extremely well, bonding with the family and all the staff, loving to crawl down tops and sit on shoulders before whining and nuzzling for his next milk feed. Alfie is by no means the first hyrax to come to the orphanage. Several hyraxs have been successfully reared and rehabilitated back into the wilds of Nairobi Park, but they always choose to stay close to where their human family are. Oomphy, the last hyrax to join the orphan household is still very much around, coming in daily for some soya milk and oats, a treat that he doesnt need, but loves to indulge in when there is someone around to dote over him.

Like Oomphy, Alfie is a bush hyrax, the only physical difference to a tree hyrax being their white bushy eyebrows. Alfie will have to find his own territory as he grows up, so as not to disturb or antagonise the other resident hyraxes, but for now he will grow up in the house within the Nairobi Nursery, going on walks with the Keepers, playing with the family and staff whilst enjoying the vegetation of the surrounding gardens when he is old enough to eat greens.

The DSWT will open its doors to any orphaned animal, providing the team have the means to give it a safe and healthy upbringing, with the intention to ultimately release them back into the wild when ready. The DSWT is reliant on your kind support to give a second chance to all of our orphaned family, please give what you can and help us to help them https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/is/donate_now.asp