Elephant orphanage

We also visited the elephant orphanage in Nairobi. This place cares for young orphaned elephants until they are 3 or 4 years old. They provide health care as well as feeding them by bottle (formula) and/or tree branches every 3 hours. They spend each night in their individual pen where a caretaker also has a bunk and sleeps there so that they can do the feedings as scheduled.

At 5 pm each day they are headed from the fields to go back to their pens. Each goes straight to their own pen. They really do have great memories.

They are orphaned typically due to poachers killing their moms.

After they are a few years old, they are moved to Tsavo where they live in a group and start to integrate with their wild counterparts. By the time they are in their mid-teens, they leave for good and stay in the wild.

Here at the orphanage you can "adopt" one of the elephants by making a donation. They will then give you a packet of info and email you monthly updates. Susan and I adopted one and Chuck adopted another in the names of his daughters.