Emily was a tiny baby of 1 month when she fell in a pit latrine outside the national park. (She) was actually rejected by her mother and elephant family because of the smell and the trauma that was going on at the time. They didn't recognize that she was their baby She came to the nursery, grew up here, went down to Tsavo and became the elephant matriarch in Tsavo. Emily has now joined the wild herds, but still keeps in very close touch with her orphan family. She returns periodically, sometimes on her own, sometimes with the others within her group: Morani, Aitong and Sweet Sally, the little calf she's since taken from the still-dependent group. And so Emily is still very much with us and we think pregnant. She is the first elephant ever to have been raised from infancy, to grow up as a matriarch and take the quantum leap out into the wild.
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Little Jipe was a wonderful little elephant, and unfortunately we lost him. He was one of the water victims. We've learned that elephants who've been exposed to water — who fall in water holes, get bogged in the mud or (fall) down wells — are very, very susceptible to pneumonia. They can't cough. The lungs of an elephant are attached to the rib cage, and so if any fluid has got into the lungs, it sets up a slow infection. Suddenly you see fluid coming from the trunk and then the calf is actually drowning. We've only been able to save two that have gotten to that stage, and unfortunately Jipe wasn't one of them.
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Lualeni was the little calf who was found all alone under a tree at a place called Lualeni near Tsavo, just waiting to die. She'd given up all hope of life. There were no elephants near. She'd obviously lost her elephant family and become too weak to follow the herd, and was brought into the nursery here in a state of complete collapse. She grieved so deeply for her elephant family that we didn't think she was going to live. We just couldn't get any life out of Lualeni for about three or four months — and then suddenly, she turned the corner. Now, she is a very happy little elephant. She's the oldest one in the nursery now. She has with her many babies and many others who have been coming since then in the stage that she was when she came in. So she can impart a very important message to the others.
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Napasha ... He was another one a bit like Lualeni. Quite a big calf, that had given up all hope of life. He was under 2, so he couldn't live without his mother's milk. He was just lying, waiting to die. A herdsman found him and thought he was dead actually. Then suddenly he moved an ear or something. The herdsman went and alerted the ranch owner, and we managed to rescue Napasha. Like Lualeni he was a starvation victim. These starvation victims, when they start getting milk, they just can't get enough of it. And Napasha's turned into a very dominant character. He's now in the reintegration stage and the sort of "big boy" of the Ithumba unit. If anything disturbs the little unit up there, which is now 16 in number, it's Napasha that joins up with the matriarch and they will see off the intruder, whatever it is.
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Naserian ... She again was an amazing elephant that was actually rejected by the wild herd. These herds in Samburu — Samburu National Reserve is just a water line, really — they have to sneak at night through human settlements. So any calf that's going to hold them up, they don't want that, because the matriarch is responsible for the well-being of the whole family. So Naserian was rejected by the wild herd, actually filmed by the BBC being rejected. (She) was almost drowned in the river by the other elephants, since they didn't want her. We brought her into the nursery here thinking, "Well my goodness, this is a water victim if ever there was one. I doubt if she's going to live." But live she did, and grew up to be the matriarch in the nursery. (She) took over a little calf called Makena, and was so obsessed with this calf that she really didn't have time for any of the others. Lualeni has now adopted Makena as her baby. When Naserian was in the nursery before Makena came in, Lualeni was her favorite. Then Makena ousted Lualeni in her affections. Now Lualeni is very happy to have taken over Makena, and to have taken over leadership of the nursery orphans.
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Wendi is a miracle elephant for us. She came in newborn, absolutely newborn. One ear was actually folded tight like a petal. We couldn't unfold it for fear that it would break. She was still covered in all the fetal membrane, and the umbilical cord was totally wet. We could see that she'd never suckled her mother. That creates a problem, because they don't have the first milk that triggers the immune system. So we had to take blood from another bigger elephant, separate the plasma and inject this into the ear vein of little Wendi. That gave her life, because that got her immune system going. She's grown up, but because she was so fragile and so tiny as a newborn, she was always a bit spoiled in the nursery. Everyone doted on her. Wendi's a huge character now in the Ithumba reintegration unit. She grew up in the nursery to be the matriarch, and Naserian was her special calf. When Naserian joined the unit up at Ithumba, it was a huge reunion. Wendi is now so delighted to have the babies that shared the nursery with her in the reintegration unit. Whenever humans come to view the Ithumba elephants, Wendi's the one that puts on a tremendous show. She loves an audience. She's a real little show-off.
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