Lilayi elephant nursery, a few kilometres from Zambia's capital city, Lusaka, is a humbling experience in many ways.
As we stand aboard a 15-feet tall pavilion, we have an aerial view of the boma, where we are told the orphan elephants will arrive after their morning field trip into the surrounding forests. The young elephants here are orphans, rescued from across the country after facing the trauma of losing their parents to ivory poaching. It is estimated that every day, 100 African elephants are killed for ivory every day. The process is gruesome where their heads are smashed to remove the ivory tusks embedded in their skull. Despite strict anti-poaching laws, it is still widely prevalent.
Run by an NGO called Game Rangers International, with funding and ongoing support from David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, this elephant orphanage aims to rescue, rehabilitate, and reintroduce the elephants to their natural habitat. This happens in a carefully planned four stage process. After rescue, the elephants are housed at this camp for a minimum of three years, after which they are weaned of the milk formula provided to them. Once they learn to forage for their own food during their daily walks in the two hectares of wild forest beyond the camp, they are shifted to the release facility at the Kafue National Park for the second stage - a gradual release into the wild bush. The mammals are monitored closely for behaviours pertaining to depression, shock and relationships with other elephants in the bush. This constitutes stages three and four, where they are let to roam free. Each elephant is given its own time to progress through these stages.
Since its initiation in 2007, the nursery has successfully reintroduced 14 elephants back into the wild, and currently houses four elephants - three females and one male. The youngest one is just six months old, and arrived at the camp three months ago. Rescued from Livingstone, she is fondly called by her temporary nickname, Little 43. Curious and shy, she is only just adjusting with her fellow mammals at the nursery.
At Lilayi elephant nursery, the relationship between the keeper and mammal is important for the latter's growth and development. Every day, the orphans are allowed out of their enclosure into wild forests, and brought back in the afternoon for lunch and dinner. They are fed with specially made formula every three hours, which is customised to each elephant's needs (which they promptly gulp down in 15 seconds flat). The keepers, working in shifts, sleep within the enclosure to check on them every night. Every minute of every day, the elephants are monitored for behaviour and health. It takes three months for the elephants to bond with their keepers, and once they are shifted to the release tacitly, the keeper stays with them there for two weeks to allow the animal to bond with the new herd with at least one familiar soul around.
It takes a lot of dedication to work with injured and vulnerable elephants. Oliver, is the chief keeper at the facility, and has worked for 10 years with 18 elephants so far. "I have always wanted to be a vet and work with animals, but elephants are special. They take a lot of work to bond with, and once they do, the job in seeing them bound toward you for their formula bottle is priceless. It's a gratifying feeling," he says, as he cleans the bottle of formulae.
Little 43 and Mulisani share a tender moment. We were told that up until a week ago, Little 43 was too shy to interact with the other elephants, and Mulisani, who's been here for aware now, has a soft spot for her. She always checks on her and often holds her close like in this image.
Elephants are herd animals and share deep bonds with fellow animals. These orphaned elephants find new families at the nursery, and usually, upon release into the wild, nurture these bonds for life.
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