By Jayne Horswill | Project Leader
Thank you for supporting our Protecting Elephants project. We are excited to bring you a wonderful update from our ground-based conservation partners, Game Rangers International Elephant Orphanage Project (GRI-EOP) in Zambia.
David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) is delighted to announce that Chamilandu, one of the first rescues of the GRI-EOP has had her first calf, a healthy male.
Having roamed free in Kafue National Park for the past four years, Chamilandu returned to the elephant boma during a lunchtime in mid-September. The team at GRI-EOP had known for some time that she was pregnant and had been waiting in anticipation. The entire camp watched in wonder and amazement as, after a few stretches and signs of discomfort, she rapidly gave birth to this beautiful little calf.
Without mature females around to support her at this critical time, Chamilandu returned to her ‘safe place’ in order to give her new baby the best chance of survival. She and the team, who have cared for her these past 11 years, worked together to assist her baby to stand and guide him to drink.
The entire orphan herd showed huge interest and excitement to this tiny addition as they welcomed back their beloved Matriarch. As the eldest elephant in the herd at 13 years old, she has been instrumental in mothering every orphan that has come along. In a way, she has been preparing for this moment for the last 11 years, and to see her nurturing her very own wild-born baby is wonderful to see.
This exciting milestone is the result of an 11-year journey for GRI and DSWF. This momentous event has been invaluable to the researchers who work full-time at Camp Phoenix studying animal behaviour and how the released orphans interact with wild herds. This will provide important scientific data to other researchers and conservationists around the world.
To mark the two-year anniversary of David’s death this year, we are greatly honoured that GRI have decided to name the new calf Mutaanzi David, meaning ‘first born’ in Ila, and the second name in honour of David Shepherd, our founder and the man whose life’s work gave Chamilandu a second chance and enabled this calf to enter the world.
This choice of name is particularly significant for DSWF as Chamilandu was mated on the very day that David Shepherd passed away, 19th September 2017. David and the entire Shepherd family have dedicated their lives to funding wildlife conservation activities, and it was through his vision that he founded the Elephant Orphanage Project in Kafue National Park, in order to give Zambia’s orphaned elephants a second chance for a life in the wild.
Thanks to your support, we can continue to ensure the care and protection of young elephants like Mutaanzi David and his mother Chamilandu in Zambia alongside other conservation projects in Africa and Asia.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
