An email I received this morning from Satao Camp states:

We Did It Again.

He was born on Monday evening at 18oo hour.

The Mother had problem from the start. She was crying a lot and left the baby lying alone.
By yesterday morning they were hanging around the Office and I call David (the vet) and told him, but he said, "we are not allowed to snatch Baby's from Mothers".

By lunch time she had made it to the Lake (waterhole), and with all the friggen Eles. out there, it just had to happen that the Baby ended up with the wrong Mother. Lots of tourists came to tell m, and I got the first nervous breakdown.

Two hours later the baby ended up in the Water and nobody helped him to get out. Even worse, they walked away. I always thought they were very social.

I went out to the waterhole in a Landrover because of all the Eles., and lots of employees were walking next to it. About 15 Minutes later the baby was out and shaking.

I went to ring David again and he was here in not even 1 hour, which was great. Then the little guy was in the water again. I think he wanted to commit suicide.

So out he comes and on to the Pitch-up and then rescued to Voi. Happy end.

There is still no rain.

What a story................and good outcome!

I would like to know what happend to the mom?

I don't allow myself to think about what's happening if the short rains fail

Pippa:

A good outcome as to a rescue, but if this little baby didn't get collostrum from the mother's first milk he will probably be in trouble for some time. Also, any baby rescued from a waterhole or well where they might have inhaled the water is at additional risk. Many of the orphaned elephants who are rescued die quickly of pneumonia.

Elephants cannot cough, which would be the first sign of something wrong with the lungs. Often these babies appear normal in the morning and when they return to the stockades fluid is noted dripping from their trunks (the first obvious sign of pneumonia). Even with antibiotics, they often die.

We can only hope and pray this little one survives.

Sad news to report from the Sheldrick Trust regarding this baby they named Kigelia.

"KIGELIA: This tiny calf, unbeknownst to us at the time of her rescue, was actually born during the night of the 14th September 2009 close to Satao Tented Lodge in Tsavo East National Park, and subsequently abandoned by her elephant mother, and saved from making a meal for the lions by being rescued during the evening of the 15th, by then the desperate calf had tried to join numerous other elephant herds none of whom were interested in her in this drought year, and she had fallen into the mudwallow for a second time having been rescued by the camp staff the first time.

Pictures were inserted here

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and KWS mobile veterinary unit were alerted by the camp about this young abandoned baby, and she spent the night of the 15th at the Voi stockades before being flown up to Nairobi on the 16th. She was a large calf and the umbilicus was detached, so we and the Keepers estimated her age to be about 2 weeks. As such, we assumed that she would have had her mother’s first colostrums milk which imparts the antibodies for survival. However, it was not until we read the Satao Camp Blog on the Internet that we discovered that she was, in fact, only born during the night of the 14th, the day before being rescued. Such newborn orphans need to receive an infusion of plasma as a replacement for the first colostrum milk to trigger the immune system, and this should be done as soon as possible. However, in the case of little Kigelia, this plasma life-saver came too late, since a number of days had already passed before we realized her circumstances. Despite receiving an infusion of elephant plasma the moment we discovered that she was infact a newborn, and despite trying desperately to keep her hydrated with drips, we simply could not stem the diarrheoa. She struggled bravely for 48 hours, but it was against the odds, and she passed away during the early hours of the 20th September, 2009. We were devastated, particularly as this was a tragedy that could possibly have been averted, had we known the circumstances better.

To read the entire article of the deaths of both Wamba and Kigelia and pictures associated
with their rescue and deaths go to: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/updates/updates.asp?ID=234