Yatta's Story

A female calf estimated to have been born towards the end of September 1999 and just one-month-old when rescued. This little calf was a poaching victim, her mother found dead (less her tusks) in the Tsavo/Athi triangle of Tsavo East National Park, below the Yatta Plateau.

The calf's bellowing was heard by a labour gang working nearby, who went to investigate and came upon her not far the her dead mother. They walked across the Mtito tributary, loaded her onto the back of an old Landrover and drove her across the crocodile infested Athi river to the nearest Airfield at Tsavo Safari Camp, from whence she was flown to Nairobi.

Yatta's Story

A female calf estimated to have been born towards the end of September 1999 and just one-month-old when rescued. This little calf was a poaching victim, her mother found dead (less her tusks) in the Tsavo/Athi triangle of Tsavo East National Park, below the Yatta Plateau.

The calf's bellowing was heard by a labour gang working nearby, who went to investigate and came upon her not far the her dead mother. They walked across the Mtito tributary, loaded her onto the back of an old Landrover and drove her across the crocodile infested Athi river to the nearest Airfield at Tsavo Safari Camp, from whence she was flown to Nairobi.

For a long time Yatta was troubled by a strange condition that puzzled all the Vets – weakness, periodic stiff joints and sometimes complete collapse. After massive doses of colloidal silver, glands in her neck became inflamed, then subsided, and a huge hard abscess developed on the side of her face, which was unusually not tender to the touch. In time this softened and burst, after which the wound healed cleanly, and her problem vanished! Whilst in the Nursery she also suffered from a sluggish metabolism, as, indeed did Emily when young, so she was moved to Tsavo along with Kinna and Mukwaju in February 2001 following unseasonal rains in January.
Since then Yatta has thrived. She is a confident and gentle character, whose best friend is Kinna and together they walk together, with Yatta as the matriarch, with their wild born babies near Ithumba in Tsavo East where they were reintroduced to the wild.

Adopt Yatta for yourself or as a gift.

Adopt Yatta for yourself or as a gift.

Current age

25 years old

Gender

Female

Rescued date

26 October 1999

Rescue location

Tsavo Ecosystem, Tsavo East NP

Date of birth (approximate)

26 September 1999

Reason orphaned

Poaching

Age at rescue

0 months old (approx)

Current location

Living Wild

Yatta's featured photos

Our digital adoption programme includes the following:

Personalised adoption certificate.

Monthly email update on your orphan and the project.

Monthly watercolour by Angela Sheldrick.

Access to special content; latest Keepers' Diaries, videos and photos

Give Yatta the gift of life by adopting today.

Yatta's Calves

Meet Yatta's wild born offspring.

Yetu

Female

Yetu — Ithumba's first grandbaby — was born just outside the stockades on 19th January 2012. Read more.

In 2022, Yetu became a mother herself, delivering a little girl named Yebo. Photographed above are Yetu (left), Yebo, Yogi, and Yatta (right). Read more.

Yoyo

Male

Yoyo was born on 7th October 2017, a special month in which we welcomed three new wild-born babies into the fold! As Yatta's second calf and first son, Yoyo has a doting older sister and a herd's worth of nannies on hand to watch over him and spoil him as he grows. Read more.

Yogi

Male

A very special delivery arrived in Ithumba on the morning of 10th November 2021, after Yatta introduced us to her third calf, a healthy boy we have named Yogi! Yogi is the fourth baby born in as many weeks to our ex-orphans, following in the footsteps of Kaia, Njema, and Noah. Read more

Yara

Female

Yatta is now a mother four times over and a grandmother. Hours after giving birth on 29th March 2025, she made a special visit to Ithumba to show off her latest addition. We named her daughter Yara, which means 'small butterfly' in Arabic. Read more.

Latest updates featuring Yatta

Yatta Gives Birth to Her Fourth Baby, Yara

Read more

Lenana Debuts Baby Laki, Her Second Son

Read more

Kinna Gives Birth to Kito, Her Third Daughter

Read more

Yatta's latest photos

Yatta

Yatta

Yatta arrives at the stockades

Yatta and Yogi

Yatta

Yoyo and Yatta

Yatta's family arrives at the stockade compound

Yatta and Yogi