A five-month-old orphaned elephant calf holds a vigil by the body of his
dead mother in Samburu, Kenya. Worried that the five-month-old might
succumb to cold or be targeted by predators, keepers from the David
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Kenya Wildlife Service and Save the Elephants
worked through the night to capture the bull - who stubbornly refused to
leave his mother's side. Vets were eventually able to tranquillise the
youngster in the early hours of the morning, before driving him to the
Samburu airstrip, and then flying him to his new home at the David
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in the Nairobi National
Park. After the flight, the severely dehydrated calf was driven to the
orphanage, where keepers quenched his thirst with some milk and water.
Some of the other 30 orphans at the nursery were brought in to welcome
and comfort the new arrival, who was named Sokotei. And despite the
shock of his new surroundings, it wasn't long before the grieving calf
was making new friends. An autopsy later revealed that Sokotei's mother,
an elephant known as Cherie, died due to a serious internal infection
caused by a twisted gut.
