Rescuers in Kenya pull orphaned elephant calf from septic tank in Tsavo East
Rescuers hauled an abandoned elephant calf from a deep, dark septic tank in Tsavo East National Park, looping ropes around her body before she could be fully submerged. The calf's herd had abandoned her, and no elephants were anywhere nearby when Kenya Wildlife Service and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Voi team responded. At the Voi stockades, orphans named Sileita and Busara rumbled and touched her with their trunks to calm her down. The team named her Zuri, Swahili for good. The next morning she was driven to the airstrip and flown to the Nairobi Nursery, where she went straight for the greens and sugar cane lining her stable walls.
Losing a herd leaves a calf vulnerable and traumatized, and the case shows how quickly rescue teams and fellow orphans work together to stabilize an animal in that state.
Source: Zuri (sheldrickwildlifetrust.org).
Written by the HappyGood desk from the primary source linked above and checked against it. Every story links its source. Corrections: [email protected].
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