You try again… and again… and again, if necessary!

A week prior, we received reports of an elephant who needed help near Lake Jipe. We mobilised to the scene, only for the bull to swim into the lake — his foot was badly wounded, and the water clearly soothed the injury. While we commend his ingenuity, it is too risky to treat an elephant in water, so we had to give up the mission for the day.

In the days following, we conducted extensive aerial patrols to locate him again, but he remained elusive. Our pilots didn’t give up, and a week later, they had a breakthrough: The bull was spotted, again walking in the waters of Lake Jipe.

With some expert manoeuvring, the SWT helicopter managed to shepherd the bull towards solid ground. Dr Kariuki, the KWS vet who leads the SWT/KWS Amboseli Mobile Vet Unit, darted the patient from the air. As the elephant started to succumb to the anaesthetic, the team landed and commenced treatment.

Upon closer examination, they discovered that the bull had a deep, penetrating wound near his front ankle. He was originally spotted near a town, which indicates that he had been arrowed or speared in human-wildlife conflict. The wound had become badly infected and was at risk of compromising the ankle.

The team cleaned out the wound, packed the site with antibiotic boluses, and sealed it up with antibiotic spray. Given the severity of the injury, he may need re-treatment — we will monitor him closely in the coming weeks — but Dr Kariuki is optimistic about his prognosis.—