THE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

In response to Trump’s decision allowing hunters to import elephant trophies (finally reversed!), why not foster a baby orphan Elephant in Kenya?

My aunt always tells me when I am uspet that a white heart is always stronger that a black one. We are living strange and scary times where leaders of the most powerful nations seem to take decisions to go backward instead of showing the right way towards more progress.

In this context, I would like to pay tribute to this wonderful association called The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) in Kenya. A dear friend of mine told me about it and I just felt in love with the idea.

Who’s behind this fabulous idea? Of course a beautiful lady by the name of Dr Dame Daphne Sheldrick. She founded this organization in 1977 in honor of the memory of her late husband, famous naturalist and founding Warden of Tsavo East National Park, David Leslie William Sheldrick MBE.

For over 25 years, Kenya-born Daphne Sheldrick lived and worked alongside her husband David, during which time they raised and successfully rehabilitated many wild species. Daphne Sheldrick’s involvement with wildlife has spanned a lifetime, and she is now a recognised International authority on the rearing of wild creatures and is the first person to have perfected the milk formula and necessary husbandry for infant milk-dependent Elephants and Rhinos.

Since the death of her husband, Daphne and her family have lived and worked in the Nairobi National Park, where they have built the DSWT and its pioneering Orphans Project, into the global force for wildlife conservation that is today.

Why are they so many orphans Elephant? When a tiny new-born elephant is orphaned, it is often because its mother and family have been killed to serve the brutal ivory trade. For an elephant, family is all important; a calf’s very existence depends upon its mother’s milk for the first two years of life.

How does the fostering work? The Baby Elephant Foster Parent Program cost USD 50 minimum per year.
They have made it digital, thereby keeping admin costs down.

• A fostering certificate with a profile and photograph of your adopted orphan together with a description of the Orphans’ Project;
• An interactive map indicating where your orphan was found and a description of the habitat and the plight of the elephants (or Rhinos) in that particular area;
• A monthly summary highlighting events of the previous month together with a direct link to the ‘Keepers Diary’ for your elephant. In the diary you will be able to access the daily calendar entries and the monthly photos. These updates can be printed off to enable you to keep a journal highlighting the progress of your orphan;.
• Along with the update you will receive a collectable monthly watercolor by Angela Sheldrick;
• From time-to-time, you will receive news of new arrivals and rescues written by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick with accompanying photographs;
• And most importantly, as one of our foster parents, you are considered part of the DSWT team and we will be keeping in personal contact with you as an important member of our project.

A truly unique and novel gift !

Please go visit their The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website to get more details and become the proud parent of an elephant and of a right cause.

THE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST