These photos were taken in the Maasai Mara during a game drive. For more scenes of mischief visit Ailsa’s travel challenge at Where’s My Backpack
And now for a treat, and even more mischievous behaviour: a short film about Daphne Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. The baby elephants you will see in the film have all been orphaned, mostly due to ivory poaching or drought. Sheldrick discovered that orphaned infants will only survive if given 24 hours a day emotional support. At the orphanage each infant has a keeper who becomes its surrogate mother. The ultimate objective of the Sheldrick project is to restore these elephants to wild herds in Tsavo East National Park. This approach has had many successes, and in fact just before Christmas it was reported in the British press that one of Sheldrick’s former orphans had just given birth, back in the wilds with her own herd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvA52oAvcZ0
Tish Farrell 
Thanks for sharing
Whao, thank you for sharing this video.
Incredible commitment there – saving orphaned elephants/Black Rhinos. Hope the ivory poachers get to see this, to learnt of the impacts of their actions.
Couldn’t help but smile at your photos of the playful baby elephants Tish 😀
They do so make one smile, don’t they 🙂
Wonderful video, and this woman deserves high marks for the work she has done….and those babies are so beautiful:) thank you.
Daphne Sheldrick does indeed deserve high praise, Janet. Ele babies die so quickly without their mother. She seems to have doggedly persisted where others have given up. Cracking the milk formula was a huge breakthrough. The emotional support system is truly something else!
Great images and fascinating film – surprising that elephant milk formula was not already known and took 28 years to get right. Thanks for sharing Tish.
Thanks for the treat, Tish!
you’re welcome, Tiny.
Tish, I’m going to save the video for later but what adorable photos. Even a little elephant is pretty strong!
janet
Who doesn’t love elephants, great pics Tish!
I had no idea there are elephant orphanages, and I am glad that they are being taken care of. These photos are fantastic. How close did you come?
I guess we were about thirty feet away – standing up inside a safari truck.
Beautiful Ellie photos! How sad that the bay elephants lose their moms to the horrid poachers. The video was so heartwarming. It was great to see how well they are cared for in the orphanage. 🙂
The orphanage is amazing. We went a couple of times when we lived in Nairobi. But also the commitment of re-introducing the orphans into the wild. That is a real labour of love.
Powerful stuff, Tish.
I love elephants. Thank you for this.
Amazing what perseverance and a will to help will do, Tish! Such heart warming images. I suppose that policing is impossible to stop the poachers. How evil!
Yes, Jo, I so admire Daphne Sheldrick’s tenacity. She must have had, and still have many heart-breaking moments. The poaching in Tsavo East – a vast vast territory is indeed almost impossible to control. The border with Somalia is very ‘porous’, and you’d need an occupying army to close that access. Only way to stop poaching, I think, is to focus on the buyers, and there are signs that some ivory using countries are responding to pressure – Vietnam I believe, and Hongkong.
So much effort, love, and kindness for save these baby elephants. Additionally, it takes knowledge, skills, and patience… Great information to share. Thank you so much, Tish. Btw, This video reminded me a 3D movie that I watched a couple of years ago that was similar to this video.
Glad you enjoyed the post. Amy. And I totally agree about the effort, love and kindness needed here.