Yesterday, I had the distinct privilege to visit the Lilayi Elephant Orphanage, located about a half-hour south of Lusaka. This facility is dedicated to returning orphaned elephants to the wild after their mothers have (in most cases) been killed by poachers.
Elephants have a life span similar to humans, reaching an upper age range of 80 and developing on a similar time line as humans. When they are younger than 10 years old, they are at significant risk of dying if left on their own.
With due attribution to Lilayi, I’ll quote their website to describe the incredible work they do:
“Situated in the beautiful, 650 hectare Game Farm of Lilayi Lodge, the Lilayi Elephant Nursery is home to the youngest members of our rescued elephant calves. Here they receive the dedicated care needed to get through the vital, vulnerable early months and years of rehabilitation before they are taken to the Kafue Release Facility and greater exposure to wild elephants and their new home in the Kafue National Park.
“The surrounding bush provides the perfect classroom for the calves to learn to browse, behave as a herd and interact with other wild animals in a safe and secure environment.
“A team of locally employed, highly trained Keepers care for them and watch over them constantly – whether out during their daily walks, or sitting close by their stables at night. Together with their new siblings and Keepers these young elephants learn to overcome the tragic loss of their natal family, as they browse, play and bath together in a natural environment.
“As soon as the calves can be weaned from milk they will be moved to the Kafue National Park, to join other older orphaned elephants at the EOP Kafue Release Facility, where they are more independent of human support and spend most of their time browsing freely in the National Park. The Facility backs onto the ancient Ngoma Teak Forest where there is a 1,000 strong local elephant population, which maximises the opportunity for the orphans to eventually reintegrate with fellow elephants back in the wild.”
During my visit to Lilayi, they had four orphans under their care, with the most recent addition, Zambezi, having joined the group just a week prior. This one-and-a-half year old had been found on an island in the Zambezi River, and to ensure that his mother wasn’t just out foraging and leaving him temporarily, the Lilayi staff left him on the island under their supervision for a couple of days. When Mom didn’t come back, they rescued him to ensure his survival.
Without the help of Lilayi, these orphans would most certainly have not been able to fend for themselves and would have been killed. Thank God we have people dedicated to the preservation of these magnificent animals.
Zambezi
Two of the other orphans.
The four orphans together.