Yatta, our matriarch-mother-grandmother extraordinaire, has welcomed a beautiful addition to her growing family!
Yatta and her newest addition, Yara
On 29th March 2025, ex-orphan Yatta strode up to the Ithumba stockades with a newborn baby girl in tow. She was without her usual entourage of children, grandchildren, and herd members — clearly, she had given birth hours earlier and wanted to make a special detour ‘home’ to introduce her daughter to the people who raised her.
We named Yatta’s new addition Yara, which means ‘small butterfly’ in Arabic. Yara is plump, curious, and active — everything a baby elephant should be. She is a tribute to Yatta and a testament to the multi-generational impact of our Orphans’ Project, how saving one life can lead to generations of elephants.
Yatta as a newly rescued orphan (circa 2000)
We rescued Yatta almost 26 years ago. On 26th October 1999, a team working in Tsavo East heard distraught bellows ringing across the Yatta Plateau. Following the sound, they discovered a weeks-old elephant calf standing near the carcass of her mother, who had been killed by poachers and robbed of her ivory.
We named the orphan Yatta, in honour of her origins. It turned out to be a beautifully fitting name, as today Yatta leads her herd in the shadow of the Yatta Plateau.
Yara nursing outside the stockades
But it took many years of healing and growth to get to that point. Yatta’s initial weeks at the Nursery were fraught. Not only was she haunted by the trauma she had witnessed, but she also grappled with a series of mysterious health issues. Blessedly, she turned a corner and blossomed into a confident and gentle elephant.
Yatta played a pivotal role in our Ithumba Reintegration Unit. In 2004, when we were establishing our newest reintegration unit, we knew that its success relied on the anchoring presence of a strong, capable matriarch. Yatta, who had shown great aptitude as a leader from a very early age, was the natural choice. Sure enough, she led with confidence and decisiveness from the moment she stepped foot in Ithumba. Under her guidance, many orphans have found their place back in the wilds of Tsavo.
Proud mum, with her legs crossed as a telltale sign of contentment and relaxation
Motherhood is a milestone for any female elephant, but especially for one who so cruelly lost her own mother. When Yatta first gave birth in 2012, Yetu was only the second wild baby conceived by one of our Ithumba orphans. Since then, dozens of little miracles have followed in her footsteps — including many members of Yatta’s own family. In 2017, she gave birth to Yoyo, followed by Yogi in 2021. In 2022, she became a grandmother, when Yetu gave birth to her first baby — and our Ithumba Unit's first grandbaby — Yebu.
Baby Yara is the latest branch on Yatta’s mighty family tree — one that continues to blossom, year after year. At the turn of the century, Yatta’s life nearly ended just as it was beginning. Now, she is leading a herd and raising a family in the very ecosystem in which she was born, standing tall among the mighty matriarchs of Tsavo.
Yara is healthy, strong, and inquisitive
Yara is the 72nd known calf born to an orphaned elephant we rescued, raised, and reintegrated back into the wild. These births are the greatest testament to the success of our Orphans’ Project, demonstrating how the orphans nurtured in our care go on to reclaim their place in the wild and contribute to Kenya's elephant population. Meet all our wild-born babies.