DIARIES :        

WENDI-MOVES

Monthly Diary Reports

As always, the morning began very early at 5 a.m. on the 9th December, when the elephants were due to be moved, and still Burra had not been persuaded to cooperate. However, Roy Carr-Hartley, being an old hand at the game of moving animals, quietly walked up behind as he hesitated at the threshold, and propelled him in once Sosian and Thoma were safely loaded and Solango taking his milk inside the second truck. Burra was taken by surprised, in he went, and the doors were hurriedly closed. Meanwhile, Mpala and Seraa, sensing that something unusual was afoot involving their friends, were frantically trying to climb out of their stables, feeling vulnerable and frightened without their Keepers, who were occupied loading the others. Little Wendi was too young to understand, quite happy near the comfort of her hung blanket in her Nursery Stable next door to where Thoma usually slept.

For a few days the Nursery seemed unusually quiet, and Seraa very obviously missed Thoma sorely, to whom she was very close, but she was thrilled to have little Wendi all to herself, and very caring and attentive to her, so she soon forgot her sadness. Mpala, always something of a self sufficient loner, simply got on with life, enjoying the lush vegetation brought on by the recent rains without competition from Burra and Sosian.

A new orphan named appropriately by the Samburu, "Tomboi" meaning "Boy without a Father" has arrived. The next morning we were able to assess his condition and approximate his age. We estimated that he was about five days old, born probably around the 10th December, and apart from the hole in his cheek, and the thorns, he was not in bad shape, and readily took his milk. Unlike Wendi, he had obviously suckled his mother, benefiting from the essential first Colostrum which triggers the immune system, but we took the precaution of keeping him on a maintenance dose of Septrum and Colloidal Silver just to stave off any diarrhoea brought about by stress and a change in diet. Like Wendi, he is attached to the blanket hung up wherever he happens to be, providing something soft and large which might feel a little like "mother", and against which he rests the tip of his trunk when feeding.

November 2002

The month saw little Wendi getting stronger and more active every day, her cheeks filling out, until she was able to join the others at the noon visiting mudbath hour, providing an added attraction for all the visitors and fielding a host of foster-parents. She is quite a little "madam", who objects to being interrupted when she simply wants to fondle the blanket, which accompanies her wherever she goes, and is hung between bushes as a comforter. Thoma and Seraa adore Wendi, but the boys, Sosian, Mpala, Solango and Burra are wary of the tiny newcomer, and with ears outspread prefer to give her a wide berth whenever she joins them. It rained for the first time on the 5th, bringing on a welcome flush of green for the older babies, all of whom have had a good month. Sosian complains loudly every time his bottle is finished, and still often removes himself from crowds of people, waiting to join the others from the nearby bush as they leave.

October 2002

Little "Wendi" is now 6 weeks old, and going strong, so, so far, so good. Currently, she is feeding well, gaining weight and becoming blessed with the little fat cheeks of a thriving elephant infant. She and her blanket, plus two 24 hour Keepers leave the Night Stable next door to Thoma, and wander off into the forest, where the blanket is hung as something large and soft beside her against which to rest her trunk and impart comfort. She is firmly attached to it, and sucks the two ends with a look of bliss on her face, eyes turning "dreamy". Woe betide anyone who interferes with such special moments, for they can expect an angry shove, and even at this tender age, Wendi can pack a punch! She is quite a little "Madam" and what she wants goes - at least for the time being!

When she would like a little milk, which is always on hand, with hot water in a thermos so that the temperature can be just right, she leaves the sucking ends of the blanket and heads towards the middle. Then, a Keeper stationed on the other side gently lifts the blanket and the milk goes down without a fuss, the tiny trunk snuggled against another special "feeding" place in the blanket! She likes a walk in the forest and demands it, always with the blanket in tow in case she chooses another place to stop!

The Nursery Elephant that loves Wendi best is "Seraa", and we are pleased about this, because once the country turns green down in Tsavo, Thoma, Burra and Sosian and possibly Solango, will be going down to join the others. Thoma can be assured of a great reunion and welcome from Mweya and Sweet Sally, with whom she shared her Nursery companions and whom she missed sorely when they left. What a joy it will be for her when she finds them both there to comfort and reassure, and gentle her introduction to all the other bigger elephants. Sosian and Burra will have each other and I have no doubt that they will be able to hold their own amongst the junior set such as Nyiro and Mukwaju and learn to respect their olders, such as Salama, and Laikipia. Mpala will then be the only boy in the Nursery, but Seraa will be there for him and to "mother" tiny Wendi.

The rains began a few weeks ago, the first some of our babies had ever seen, and they were quite unphased to begin with. However, then the puddles and the mud triggered immense excitement, whilst tiny "Wendi", still essentially fragile, was hurried back into the warmth of a dry stable, swathed in a blanket and a protective rain-sheet. (We can't risk her getting cold and wet yet.) The others rushed around, working themselves up into a frenzy so that a squeaky trumpet could happen, chasing any warthogs who obligingly ran away, and generally rejoicing in the change of the season.

Wendi is an Imenti Forest Elephant, and arrived only days old, perhaps just a week, with a moist umbilical cord, soft black hair on her skin and a tiny short trunk. Being so young, she really has no comprehension yet, other than the fact she needs food and someone bigger to follow and be with.

She was found in a swamp near the all but gone Imenti Forest, all alone, on the morning of 18th September 2002, the rest of the herd having fled, no doubt due to human disturbance.

Rescue of "Wendi". She is from the Imenti Forest, and, as it has transpired, was newborn, with a deep crease in one ear that stubbornly refuses to straighten. We are sure she must have been in the womb with one ear bent, and we suspect that she may even have been a twin - the weaker twin - and left behind when her mother left with the other. There is not much information about as to why she was orphaned. Only that she was found lying beside a swamp.

We prayed that she might have suckled her mother so that her immune system would not be colostrums deficient and therefore unable to cope. But, just in case, we put some powdered cows' colostrums in her first bottles. However, it the colostrums milk is not taken within 24 hours, the system shuts down, and one has a problem.

For three days Wendi thrived, downing between 32 and 36 pints of milk in a 24 hour period. But then the problems began, with a severe bout of enteritis, passing blood and chunks of intestinal flesh in the stools. We now had to face the fact, that this was, indeed, a colostrums deficient baby and our minds turned back to "Imenti", who was the same. With the benefit of hindsight, we decided to do what had saved Imenti's life - take blood from one of the healthy older elephants, separate the plasma and infuse it into the baby to pass on some established antibodies and a chance to fight infection.

We chose "Thoma", who is now over a year old, and a healthy baby. This entailed an anaesthetic, which is always risky, but our Vet, Dieter Rottcher has had a great deal of experience in this field, having brought in many of our orphans under sedation, and performed several operations under anaesthesia as well. Thoma was immobilized, and whilst unconscious, surrounded by all the other Nursery elephants, who showed deep concern, about 2 pints of blood was drawn from an ear vein and taken to be centrifugally separated. Thoma was woken up, and was none the worse, and we all sighed with relief.

The next day it was the turn of tiny Wendi, which was even more life threatening, since she was far from well from the enteritis, which we had been treating with a Sulphur based oral antibiotic. She was put to sleep, and slowly Thoma's blood plasma was infused into her ear vein, which took about 20 minutes. She was then woken up, and although very wobbly, and sleeping a great deal, managed to get through the day.

However, the next night her Keeper reported that she had heavy breathing and fluid coming from the trunk. Our thoughts immediately turned to the lessons of Seraa, whom we nearly lost from similar symptoms indicative of pneumonia, and immediately Wendi had to undergo a three day course of injectible antibiotic.

After this, she seemed to be picking up. The stools were better, as was the breathing. The morning of the 30th September began well, but then she hit a crisis, and lay in a state of near collapse all day. We began to despair. She had taken no milk, and had to be lifted, unable to stand unaided. Then, suddenly, she rallied, and as I write this account, we keep our fingers firmly crossed for little "Wendi", whose name means "Hope". We do have "Hope" still and what is more, we also have hope that she will make it.