over the airwaves. He is speaking into his radio in short bursts. He sees a baby elephant near the river. She is alone, and she is injured. Send help quickly, the ranger says. T e veterinarians listening to the call know
T
what to do. T ey rush to the site. When they get there, they are shocked by what they see. T e baby elephant has a wound on her head
from a spear. T ere are also deep gashes on her back. When she sees the vets coming, the baby elephant runs to the bushes. She doesn’t trust humans. Humans attacked her. T ey also likely killed her mother for her mother’s tusks. She is an orphan now. T is is not the first orphan elephant these
vets have treated here in Kenya, Africa. It will not be the last, either.
Elephants in Trouble At one time, more than a million elephants roamed Africa. Now fewer than 500,000 do. T e number of people living in Africa is
growing. More houses and businesses are built for people to live and work in. Forests are cut down to make room. T is is called deforestation. It means habitat loss for elephants. T ese animals must squeeze their herds into smaller and smaller patches of land. Losing land isn’t the only problem, though.
Poachers have killed many elephants for their valuable ivory tusks. T ey also take elephants’ meat, hide, and other parts. Poachers are not the only danger to
elephants. Local farmers sometimes shoot elephants. Sometimes, the elephants damage their property. Other times, farmers are trying to protect their crops from hungry elephants. When a mother elephant is killed, her baby
has little hope for survival. T at is why the vets and other people at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust are so important. T ey help, protect, and care for orphan elephants.
12 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
he urgent voice of the park ranger calls out
A New Home T e vets take the injured elephant to the orphanage. T ey name her Murka. Murka’s injuries are serious, but she is strong. T e vets treat her wounds. She begins to
heal. Within a few weeks, she is allowed to go to the nursery. T is is where other baby orphan elephants live. Murka seems scared at first, but the other
elephants greet her gently. T ey touch her head with their trunks. T ey make low rumbling sounds to welcome her. She begins to feel safe. By the end of the day, Murka is tired. Her
body is still healing. One of the elephant keepers leads her to a quiet place to lie down for the night. His name is Simon. He covers her with a
warm blanket. T en he lies down next to her. She looks at him suspiciously. He rests his hand on her cheek. He whispers to her soſt ly. Soon, they both fall asleep.
A New Day T e day begins in the nursery at 5:30 a.m. Murka is hungry. So are all the other baby elephants. T e keepers feed the babies milk from large bottles. A man holds a bottle to Murka’s mouth, but she does not trust him. He is Mishak Nzimbi. He has worked as
an elephant keeper in the nursery longer than anyone else. He seems to have a special way with the orphans. He knows that Murka is missing her mother. To get Murka to drink milk, he hangs up
a wool blanket between two shrubs. Murka is curious. T e blanket is warm, like her mother. She leans against it. Mishak stands on the other side. He pulls the corner of the blanket up just a little to off er her the bottle. T e milk does not taste like her mother’s
milk. Yet Murka drinks. Baby elephants need milk the same way human babies do. T e elephants need milk every three hours. Each baby drinks 24 liters (6 gallons) a day.
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