Petting baby elephant orphans in Kenya...(Photo: Emily O'Dell)
When I was visiting the rhinos at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya, this adorable baby elephant walked right up to me for a head rub–right after the baby elephants had finished chugging their morning bottles. As I gave this young (fellow) orphan a heartfelt massage on its hairy little forehead, it lifted its gaze from the ground to bat its exaggerated eyelashes right at me–if I could have taken it home with me, I would have. I could barely stand to think of the trauma it had survived at such a young age, when it lost its mother in the wild (which you can read about on the website below).
To foster one of the baby elephant or rhino orphans at the Wildlife Trust, please visit the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust online. To learn more about the visionary work of Dame Daphne Sheldrick, check out the film “Born to be Wild,” narrated by Morgan Freeman.
