I think all my fellow liberals can agree that Baraka means blessing (okay, so it actually does, in Swahili, a fact outside of partisanship). This black rhino lost one eye in a bar fight and then the other to cataracts. Rhinos have limited vision anyway, but not having any is pretty much a death sentence. Baraka has become a blind ambassador for rhino conservancy in Ol Pejata Conservancy. And he let us feed him carrots and give him scritches, so I have been fully ambassadorisized*.
*I’m considering making a resolution to bastardize at least one word in each post. It’s quite entertaining to sucker-punch spellcheck, although very much like biting the hand that helpfully edits for me.
Chimpanzees are not native to Kenya so finding this rescue is a bit of a surprise. The sanctuary takes in chimps mostly from conflict areas and those illegally adopted as “the cutest pet ever”, until they get to be about ten years old and demonstrate just how strong and wild they are. The chimp park is worth reporting on mostly because of this:
The sanctuary is double fenced, and in that gap area, there is a human containment cage with reinforced steel along all facets. Why is this necessary? Because there are two chimps who are extra-clever and extra-strong. One has learned how to put two wires from the electric fence to short-circuit it then escape the first stronghold. If/when this happens, there is an immediate call out for all humans to go into the cage until the chimps can be bribed or sedated back into their sanctuary.
…but Piper and Kyla just adopted a baby elephant. Unfortunately, we are unable to take her home because she must stay with her care team and her friends at the Daphnie Sheldrake Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. But the girls will get monthly updates on Kerrio’s progress, and I’m sure they will share them with you so you can also see Kerrio grow. When she is about 4 or 5, she will go with a few friends to the bush, and keepers will stay with her until she is accepted/adopted into a new herd. She will be wild again!
Honestly, she might be a little wild now. Piper and I got to pet her and Kerrio was enjoying the feel of mud on her trunk. She swung and got Piper fully on the leg, red mud and all. Piper was smitten. The keeper wagged his finger at her, and I can now tell you that finger-wagging doesn’t work on children, cats (ahem), and elephants.
The kids miss you all! Please, leave the mice and baby rabbits alone, okay? Or I might try harder to replace you with something less destructive. Like an elephant.
Luke-warmly,
Your feeder
The Sheldrake Centre is open 10-11am every morning so admiring tourists can watch the baby elephant orphans be bottle-fed and learn of their stories. We were introduced to 21 babies this morning and we (read: Piper) wanted to take them all home.
Fun fact: Human babies might suck their thumbs, and baby elephants also like to self-pacify!
Two of the babies actually appeared abandoned by their herd and their mother, rather than being separated by conflict or death. At first, keepers were puzzled by an abandoned girl, until they got her to the refuge and realized she had epilepsy, with episodes several times a day. Now she is on medication, and has improved significantly. The other abandoned elephant was this guy, with severely bowed legs. He would not have been able to keep up with the herd, and so may have just been left behind. He may become a lifelong resident at the refuge, like a blind rhino that has been there about 15 years.
Needopedia 