Elephants, the world’s largest land animals, hold a significant place in both African and Asian cultures. Revered for their strength and wisdom, they face an unfortunate history of mistreatment, primarily driven by the demand for ivory. Today, all elephant species are at risk of extinction, making conservation efforts more critical than ever.
The Crisis Facing Elephants
Sadly, the forest and savanna elephant population is declining due to habitat loss and poaching in countries across the continent.
One study states African elephant population dropped by 50%, from 1.3 million to 600,000, between 1979 and 1989 because of poaching. Another study revealed 62% of forest elephants vanished from central Africa between 2002 and 2011.
African elephants also suffer from land encroachment and human-elephant conflicts, but the leading cause of population decline is poaching for ivory. In recent years, growing demand for ivory, particularly from Asia (China is the largest market for ivory), has led to a surge in poaching.
At sites monitored through the CITES-led (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) program alone, which include approximately 40% of the total elephant population in Africa, an estimated 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011. Initial data from 2012 shows that the situation has not improved.
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During the last 10 years, the elephant population declined by 62% and the land area inhabited by elephants dropped by 30%.
Elephant poaching is so common that many elephant poaching statistics are staggering. Though powered by the ivory trade in Thailand, most of the killing happens on the plains of Africa. According to National Geographic, Both endangered savanna and critically endangered forest elephants are declining from the direct impact of elephant poaching in Africa.
Poaching is spreading primarily as a result of weak governance and rising demand for illegal ivory in the rapidly growing economies of Asia, particularly China, which is the world’s largest destination market.
The Role of Sanctuaries
Elephant sanctuaries play a crucial role in rescuing, rehabilitating, and protecting these magnificent creatures. These sanctuaries offer a safe haven for orphaned and injured elephants, providing them with the care and support they need to thrive.
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: A Beacon of Hope
Born from one family’s passion for Kenya and its wilderness, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was established 48 years ago and is best known for its Orphans' Project, the first and most successful elephant orphan rescue and rehabilitation program in the world.
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The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) operates an orphaned elephant rescue and wildlife rehabilitation program in Nairobi, Kenya. It was founded in 1977 by Dame Daphne Sheldrick to honour her late husband, David. For over 25 years Kenya-born Daphne Sheldrick lived and worked alongside her husband, David, a naturalist and founding warden of Tsavo East National Park.
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust travels throughout Kenya to rescue orphaned African bush elephants and a south-central black rhinoceros crash, along with other animals like giraffes, hippos and a southern white rhinoceros crash.
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operates four mobile veterinary units and a Sky Vet initiative headed by Kenya Wildlife Service Vets to alleviate the suffering of injured wild animals.
In partnership with the Kenya Forest Service, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has embarked on conserving and sustaining the environment in the Kibwezi Forest.
Successful programmes at the Tsavo East elephant orphanage include raising and rehabilitating rescued elephants. The aim is to also preserve their habitats, prevent poaching and develop community outreach to improve the livelihoods of local Kenyans. The journey of rescued elephant calves as they transition back to the wild is remarkable - at five or six years old, they are gradually weaned off milk and given the freedom to explore the area of the National Park surrounding the stockades.
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Here at the historic national park in the southwest of Kenya, you’ll spend time at the Sheldrick Wildlife Conservation Trust, the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation programme in the world.
That’s why the Sheldrick Wildlife Conservation Trust’s work in Tsavo East is vital.
Your wildlife conservation safari You will have plenty of opportunities to have close experiences with the orphaned, ex-orphaned and wild elephants before heading out on game drives to spot safari wildlife, taking guided walks or relaxing back at camp.
Daily activities begin at dawn with a short drive to the elephant calves’ stockade, where you’ll witness their morning milk feed and learn about their unique personalities from dedicated keepers. Watch as they join ex-orphans and wild elephants to roam freely through the bush.
Mid-morning, meet them at the watering hole for another feeding and playful dust baths. Spend your afternoon on a game drive or relaxing at camp before returning to see the calves’ orderly evening routine as they settle in for the night.
This sanctuary is more than a rescue - it’s a lifelong refuge.
At the Lusaka Elephant Nursery in Zambia, we rescue and rehabilitate orphaned elephants.
Problem: When poachers kill female elephants, defenseless young calves can be left behind. Nursing calves, still dependent on their mothers, cannot survive without intervention. Left to fend for themselves, these orphans struggle without the milk they need to survive, or the opportunity to learn critical social skills from their mothers. The stress of losing a mother often weakens the calves’ immune systems, leaving them vulnerable to malnutrition, dehydration and other stress-related health problems.
Solution: Working with the GRI-Lusaka Elephant Nursery Project (LEN), a non-governmental organization based in Zambia, we helped develop and operate an elephant nursery. This is the first elephant orphanage in Southern Africa and the second on the continent. Its mission is to return rescued elephants back to the wild. Our teams take orphaned elephants out for regular walks, put them on feeding schedules and even watch over them while they sleep.
The new nursery opened in August 2022 in Lusaka National Park.
Reteti Elephant Sanctuary: A Community-Driven Haven
The world’s first Indigenous community-owned African elephant sanctuaryLocated in Northern Kenya.
Reteti was established in response to demands from the local community. With the support of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the Samburu County Government, and the entire Samburu community in Namunyak Conservancy, Reteti is testament to what locally-led conservation can achieve.
From an elephant calf’s initial rescue through its journey of rehabilitation, to being ultimately rewilded in the land of their birth, every story of healing and hope depends on collective care and continued support.
The Reteti keepers are all recruited from within Namunyak Conservancy. The Samburu have been living alongside wildlife for thousands of years and have deep respect for elephants with whom they share the land and its resources. The keepers have been formally trained in the care, rehabilitation and release of elephant calves.
When elephants arrive at Reteti, they are often malnourished and dehydrated and have sometimes endured predator attacks. Reteti’s Elephant Keepers work around the clock to care for the babies. The orphans eat every 3 hours throughout the day and night, and the Keepers work 12-hour shifts to maintain this schedule.
How You Can Help
Volunteering for the conservation of elephants is a rewarding and unique experience. Those interested in conserving the population as a whole can take part in important data collection tasks, to measure the size of the existing populations. Statistics like these can easily show researchers if the population is becoming more or less endangered. This data can support efforts to create more wildlife protection laws, as well.
In addition to the importance of measuring elephant populations, simply patrolling in the wild can deter poachers, therefore simply conserving the elephants.
Every donation makes a difference.
- $30 | 2 Bed-time Blankets - Each elephant at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary have 2 blankets for comfort and warmth at night.
- $145 | An Elephant’s Care for 1 Day - A day’s care includes specially formulated milk, vet fees, medicine, water and keepers’ salaries.
- $288 | An Elephant’s Milk for 3 Days - Each elephant receives a total of 24 bottles of specially formulated milk over 3 days.
- $690 | A Week’s Veterinarian & Medical Bills - New rescues at Reteti often suffer from trauma, injuries, dehydration or illness.
We would not be able to rescue, rehabilitate and release the elephants if it weren’t for your generous donations.
We welcome visitors. The Reteti keepers love to share their knowledge and the conservation work they do.
Reteti is located in the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya. It is an eight-hour drive from Nairobi. We also have our own airstrip.
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