Copyright SLCS - (c) 2006. Created by Jon Benbow. Contact jon.benbow@gmail.com
Orphaned elephant move
Chamilandu's move (Update).
You will all remember that little Chamilandu came to us the day before we moved Chodoba to his new home in Kafue (Read the story here). After a hard first night, she settled in well at Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre. Our only task before moving her was to try and get her used to people, so that she could be flown to Kafue National Park's newly established David Shepherd Wildlife Orphanage. This was not easy and you would be surprised at how strong a one a half year old elephant is, lots of us ended up with bruises and cuts from being head butted on a regular basis!!
After seeking advice from Proflight, the airline who had recently moved little Zamma from Lower Zambezi to Kafue, preparations were made for Chamilandu's move.
With no specialized vet available to help us with the move, James Milanzi (ZAWA Senior Ecologist), myself and an SLCS scout, Jaston Nyama decided or rather hoped we had enough experience to move her ourselves. The following photos tell the rest of the story.
Chamilandu was tranquilized early on Sunday morning, loaded into her crate, driven one and a half hours to Mfuwe Airport and loaded in to the Proflight Caravan plane (it sounds a lot more straight forward than it probably was!!). A second top up tranquilizer ensured she was extremely relaxed for the three hour flight to Kafue National Park, which was thankfully very smooth and completely problem free. Her most familar friend, Jaston Nyama sat with her at the back of the plane and fed her along the way.
Minutes after arriving at the orphanage, Chamilandu meets Chodoba and Zamma for the first time with a touching of trunks. Zamma and Chamilandu became firm friends immediately whereas Chodoba continues to do his own thing.
Two hours after arriving at the orphanage all three young elephants and their keepers went on a walk and had a swim in a small lagoon. Little Zamma especially has the time of his life during these afternoon swims. All the elephants spend most of the day out walking in the park with their keepers and generally spend time feeding and just being elephants.
Not much room for anything else in the plane.
Arrival at Kafue and having a good smell.
Two hours after arriving at the orphanage all three young elephants and their keepers went on a walk and had a swim in a small lagoon. Little Zamma especially has the time of his life during these afternoon swims. All the elephants spend most of the day out walking in the park with their keepers and generally spend time feeding and just being elephants.
James and Jaston and I say goodbye to our new friends and leave them in the safe hands of the David Shepherd Wildlife Orphanage keepers. SLCS is thrilled that there is a facility where we can relocate orphaned elephants if the need arises. We have also assured the orphanage that we are totally committed to assisting them in raising and rehabilitating these orphans. We plan to visit early in the New Year and see how they are doing.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the kind support from all our sponsors who very generously donated towards the movement of Chodoba and Chamilandu. Special thanks go to the following people:
DHL, Conservation Foundation Zambia, Proflight and Gero and Edelgard Heine who very generously paid for and flew Chamilandu to Kafue.
The Zambia Wildlife Authority, Max Seymour, Derek Shenton, Bernie McHugh, Teresa Duddy, Debbie and Terrie Tomms of Sunshine Seedlings Zambia, Struan McDougal, Alwyn Jones, Laura DeVault, Jude Price, Michael and Sheila Medlar, John and Lyn Taylor, Tig and Val Siddle, Charles and Adrian Coxe, Clinton and Dawn Cowley, Marty and Chris Martin, Herman and Patsy Miles, Angus Mackie, Glen Tatham, Ian Parsons, Cloete, Lucas, and Rieneer from L&L Safaris, Adrian Hudson, Mundawanga Zoo and the David Shepherd Foundation, whose contributions and advice will go a long way to helping these youngsters get back to the wild.
A million thanks again
