Episode 5 Elephant Diaries

For a whole year, I've been following a remarkable family of baby elephants in Kenya.

A family of elephants raised by people.

Every one of these little elephants is an orphan, rescued from the wild having lost their mother.

They've all been brought to a unique nursery in Nairobi

where they receive the intense love and care that they desperately need.

All of these babies have been saved from certain death in the wild

by the vision of one woman, Daphne Sheldrick.

Together with her team of dedicated keepers,

she's giving orphaned baby elephants

a second chance of a normal life in the wild where they belong.

The second stage of their journey back to the wild begins

when the young elies leave the nursery and are brought to Tsavo National Park.

I've been following the progress of the older orphans as they learn what it takes to return to the wild.

Yesterday on Elephant Diaries,

the lives of the ten orphans at the new release site

hung in the balance after a freak attack by a rabid dog.

In a desperate bid to save the elephants,

the new herd was vaccinated and those that were bitten, quarantined.

We've spent months getting to know these elephants,

being accepted by these elephants, going out with them every day.

It's almost unbearable - the thought that any of them

have got rabies because the reality of that is, if we can't treat them,

they will have to be put down.

Yes! At last, some fantastic news.

We've just heard from Nairobi that they've contacted an elephant expert in India, of all places.

He's familiar with the Indian elephant, he's familiar with rabies, it's endemic in that area

and he thinks there is a way that we can treat our elephants.

We're not out of the woods yet. Those are Indian elephants, these are African elephants, different species.

But really good news for today at least - our elephants can be brought back together.

The recommendation is that the five orphans that were bitten

start with a double dose of vaccine,

followed by a series of further injections.

ELEPHANT WHINES

It could be months before we know for certain if the elephants are out of danger.

But for the time being at least, our orphans can start to get their lives back on track.

I mean, what a joy to see all ten elephants back together again,

feeding, greeting, acting as if nothing was wrong.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed there isn't.

They're continuing to get treatment

and they will do for a number of weeks.

At least I can take a long deep breath and say, for the moment,

everything's looking fine.

They may have escaped from the immediate threat of rabies

but there are still challenges ahead.

The dry season has been unrelenting

and the waterholes have all but disappeared,

so even if they do all survive the rabies attack, the little ones must

rely on the guidance of the older ones to help them make it through.

Who knows what the future holds for our elies, but at least

they're a herd again.

One thing's for sure, I'll be keeping a close eye on them.

In Nairobi, the dry season brought a flood of rescued babies into the nursery.

Sadly, only some of them were strong enough to live through their ordeal.

And now they're trying to adjust to their strange new lives.

But the latest arrivals have given a new lease of life

to one of the older elies - Naserian.

You may remember that only months ago, she was found motherless and being rejected by other elies.

Now she's become the self-appointed nanny of the baby herd.

One of the things that's been amazing to watch

is how the dynamics of this little nursery group keep changing.

Naserian has definitely taken on the role of looking after all the new babies that come in.

But when you think about it, it was only six or seven months ago

that SHE was the new little elephant that needed mothering.

In such a short space of time, she's taken on responsibilities

and grown up far quicker than she would have had to have done in the wild.

Elephants are social creatures that thrive on being close to one another,

and Naserian in particular enjoys nothing more than mothering the youngest ones here.

But even with Naserian's love and attention,

there's still one baby that's struggling to cope.

Little Lualeni arrived just a few weeks ago.

We suspect her mother was slaughtered by poachers.

She's still deeply traumatised by her experience

and won't join in with the other babies.

So the keepers are desperately trying to help her to come to terms with her grief.

And there's one game that they hope will kick start that process.

Now this might look like complete chaos,

and as a football game I'm not sure how successful it is,

but this is really important for the elephants to bond with each other,

and with the keepers and for them to learn just to have fun.

As with all babies, play is an enormously important way

for the little elies to develop their skills,

and discover more about their world, so most jump at the chance to get involved.

But despite everyone's encouragement,

there's still one baby that's refusing to play ball -

little Lualeni.

If she's going to have a future back in the wild, she HAS to get over her loss.

But will she ever really feel ready to move on?

Although I've been busy following the rabies incident

at the new release site,

I've also been keeping in touch with news from the big orphan herd to the south

and the changes in Emily's life.

Remember, Emily is the matriarch of the orphan herd and we think she's reached a crossroads in her life.

She's been trying to decide if she's ready to take her final step

back into the wild or if she's going to stay with her herd of orphans.

So the keepers gave her the chance to stay out all night to see if she really was ready to leave home.

Next morning, guess who's back.

Emily's returned to welcome the rest of her herd as they're let out for the day.

They're obviously delighted to see her and rush to say good morning,

their trunks touching her to reaffirm their close friendships.

But one elephant refuses to come out.

Perhaps she's feeling let down by Emily leaving her for the night.

She's certainly reluctant to say hello.

But the keepers know how to handle the situation

and they enlist Emily's help to encourage the orphan to leave.

Emily's so in tune with the emotions of her adopted herd

that she manages to persuade the youngster that it's all going to be OK.

This is why she's such a good matriarch.

But Emily is also fighting the instinct to put her own needs first.

She's ready to go back to the wild but if she does, her herd are really going to miss her.

It's a tough decision and only she can make it.

Here at the Nairobi nursery,

one of the keeper's favourite babies is having a tough time.

Normally, little Jipe is a happy bundle of energy,

joining in all the games.

But in the past few days, he's certainly not seemed himself

and has turned to head keeper Edwin for comfort.

The poor little thing has terrible diarrhoea at the moment.

But Jipe's about three or four months old and this is the age when elephants start to teethe,

so that's very common behaviour and symptoms for an elephant that's teething,

so the keepers aren't too worried.

Like any baby, his diarrhoea is making him feel weak and lethargic,

and the poor little thing must be feeling terrible.

But hopefully once his teeth are through

he'll be back to his normal, playful self.

Now, Jipe's often taken afternoon naps and in the past,

the keepers have wanted to get him up so he sleeps at night,

but because he's very weak at the moment,

they're letting him take a little sleep in the day.

As the day draws to a close, Jipe and the rest of the nursery babies

are heading home to the safety of their stables.

Despite his teeth and tummy troubles,

Jipe still enjoys his bedtime milk from Edwin,

and everyone hopes this lovable little elie

will be better in the morning.

Tonight though, it's not Jipe, but another little baby that's causing concern.

Each night, the keepers sleep next to the orphans so they can reassure them and feed them.

Usually the keepers and the elephants sleep on separate mattresses.

But grief-stricken Lualeni is desperately missing her mother

and snuggles up close.

She's one of the saddest cases the nursery has had to deal with,

and no-one knows if she'll ever get over it.

The new day brings totally unexpected and devastating news.

Well, this morning, I've just arrived at the nursery to some very, very sad news indeed.

All of the elephants have left their stables, except for one,

little Jipe who very sadly and suddenly died overnight.

At this stage, nobody knows why.

But certainly myself, the keepers and all the other elephants

are feeling the loss of a very special little orphan.

It's terrible to think that the last time I saw Jipe, he was resting happily on my lap.

Now he's gone.

Obviously what everyone thought was just teething

was far more complicated, but for the moment, it's a complete mystery.

Perhaps Edwin has some idea of what really happened.

Oh, all the keepers were very sad,

everybody, because Jipe was the keepers' favourite.

The real problem started during the night after feeding his milk at nine.

I discovered that the trunk had started to be wet.

It didn't take a long time

before we discovered that the wetness in the trunk was changing into foam.

When one has got foam in the trunk,

there's no way out, there's no way out you can save it.

Before the vet could come,

Jipe had just collapsed...

..and nobody

did not know what to say or what to do.

It was just very quick.

When he was with you, very gentle,

and everybody liked him.

So everybody was sad, all the keepers were sad, everybody in the compound.

No matter how hard everyone tries, fragile little babies like Jipe

are always at risk during these dangerous early years.

And the sad reality is that, despite all the love and care they receive,

the tragedy that befell Jipe could happen to any one of them at any time.

At the new release site, there's wonderful news.

It's been several weeks since my last visit when rabies struck the herd

and amazingly, they all seem to have had an incredibly lucky escape.

I've returned to see if their ordeal has left any lasting damage.

Looking around,

I can hardly believe the changes that have taken place to the landscape.

It's absolutely incredible what the rains have done to this place.

It's transformed, it's like a different place.

There's so much food now for the elephants,

they're going to love this,

because up to now they've been struggling a bit trying to browse,

trying to get enough vegetation from the bushes, now they've got all this lovely lush grass.

The thing I'm really noticing now is just how wonderfully well

our elephants have settled in here at Ithumba

because initially, they didn't know this area at all,

and now they've got an established routine, they're no longer nervous.

Before it was just like a bunch of individuals, everybody just doing their own thing.

Now, there's a sense of real cohesion and they're acting, to me, just like wild elephants.

They're doing everything I would expect.

Better still, like a wild herd, one of the older orphans is now emerging as the matriarch.

This is what everyone has been hoping for.

All four of our larger elephants

have got particular aspects of their characters that the little ones respond to.

But of all four of them, it's Yatta, the most independent one,

that to me seems as if she is possibly the matriarch.

She's not the biggest here, but she is the one the others defer to and when the herd moves on,

it's often Yatta that drifts to the back, protecting the young ones and encouraging them along.

It's not just the herd that's been transformed.

The dried-up waterholes are now full to overflowing and for these little elies, this is just heaven.

You can just feel the sense of excitement with these elies as they get near to water.

They just know they're about to have a great time just splashing around. Look at them.

Just look at Napasha having the time of his life.

This is where you see the changing moods of the elephants.

They are really enjoying themselves and you can hear just splashing, throwing water everywhere

because for months they haven't had an opportunity like this and boy, are they making up for lost time.

It's nearly eight months since our elies arrived here from Voi and Nairobi

and what an adventure it's been just getting them here,

getting them into the trucks,

and of course having them settle in

to what is a totally different environment for them.

And then there was that awful scare with rabies.

But look at them now,

aren't they acting naturally? Aren't they having fun?

Haven't they settled in well?

After all they've been through,

this must now seem like paradise.

There's no doubt in my mind that Ithumba is very much now their new home

and of course it's that one vital step for them back to the wild.

At last, I'm full of hope for their future.

It's now down to them.

So it's time for me to say farewell and head south to see how Emily's herd are getting on.

And from what I hear, there have been major changes there too.

Emily now spends every night outside the stockade

but she still often meets up with the other orphans in the park during the day.

All year I've been waiting to see if Emily will take her last step back into the wild.

Now, it seems as if she may have finally made her decision.

Emily was just weeks old when she was rescued,

and it's taken 11 years of hard work and heartache

to get her to this point.

It seems she's reached the end of her journey,

and for the younger elies,

it's time to say goodbye to their beloved matriarch.

This is what this whole project is about -

helping baby orphaned elephants to return to the wild

in their own time and on their own terms.

No-one will ever be able to replace the family Emily lost,

but that was never the goal.

The aim was to help her start her own family back among the wild herds

and now she has that chance.

My only regret is that I may have missed the opportunity to say my own goodbyes to her.

She really is very special.

I can't hoping that she might still be somewhere nearby.

So I've come to check out her old herd

just in case she makes one last appearance.

Look, see between the trees there.

The question is, is it a wild elephant

or is it an elephant they know.

Just by the direction in which they're moving and the purposefulness,

says to me that which ever, they're going to go and check it out.

Any idea who it might be?

Is it Emily?

Tell you one thing, I'm keeping this side of our elies.

They're going to act as a buffer whoever that elephant is.

Don't want to make a mistake at this point.

It's who? Edo. And Edo is?

-A bull?

-Yes, a bull.

Was it an orphan? It was, fantastic.

Maybe we'll get a wonderful...meeting.

Listen.

They're talking already.

Look, there we've got one. Trunk goes out.

"Who are you? Do I know you? Yes, I do."

I mean, that is a massive elephant. I mean, what is he, 14 years-old?

He's an adolescent, he's a teenager but he is ginormous.

But just look at these little ones. Look at the little bulls.

He's their hero right now

and they are determined not to let him out of their sight.

And this hopefully is that path that all of these orphans will follow,

back into the wild.

He's living life on his own terms

in one of the most spectacular places in Africa.

And doesn't that just say everything.

A success story? I reckon so.

Even though I failed to find Emily,

I have found one of her old orphan friends living wild.

But it would still mean so much to me

if I could see her enjoying her new-found freedom

before I have to leave.

At the Nairobi nursery, everyone is still in shock after Jipe's death.

So the keepers are using the routine and fun of daily life here to help everyone recover.

But there is some good news.

At last, grief-stricken Lualeni is starting to make friends and join in.

She certainly has come on a long way in the last few weeks.

Just a little while ago, she used to stand completely on her own

with her trunk hanging low, not knowing what to do with herself.

She's at least integrating a bit now

but she certainly has times when she still looks very sad.

It'll be many years before Lualeni's ready to follow in the footsteps

of the older orphans and return to the wild.

But at least she's making progress

and together with the rest of the babies here,

she's taking her first steps on the long and difficult journey

back to where she belongs.

It's been an amazing experience

to be part of this dysfunctional little elephant family

and to see orphans arrive at the nursery insecure and frightened,

and in time watch their personalities develop

and their confidence grow.

Orphans like Naserian

who we've followed all the way from her rescue when she was so small

and fragile, and in just under a year, she's become

a gentle, sweet, caring little two-year-old

who's confident enough to mother the littlest of the new arrivals.

We've only been following these orphans for about a year

and so much has happened in that time,

but with the amount of affection, attention and love

that they're given here, even timid little elephants like Lualeni

have the chance to one day go back into the wild.

I've had an extraordinary year getting to know the orphans.

I just wish that I'd been able to say goodbye to Emily,

the remarkable matriarch that allowed me into her herd.

But I think I might have one last chance because we've been tipped off that she's been seen nearby.

I don't believe it, it's Emily...

..with Aitong, her great chum from the orphanage.

This is the first time that I've seen them since they left the rest of the orphans and went off on their own.

I would desperately love her to come over here or be with the keepers,

walk out on foot and just say hello.

But this is good news, I mean, she is completely unconcerned about us.

She's not interested in the vehicle, she's not interested in me,

she's being a wild elephant and that is the whole object of the exercise.

I just love the thought that this is a new beginning for Emily.

She's back in the wild,

she's survived that terrible trauma when she was orphaned

and she's got the beginnings of her own family.

And maybe in the not too distant future, she'll have her first baby.

And l tell you one thing, if she does I'm going to be back here to see it.

Having the chance to follow the lives of these orphan elephants

through a year filled with heartbreak and triumph

has been an unforgettable experience.

But best of all is when you see as we have

that all the hard work, the love, the dedication - it all pays off.

These lost little elies really can make a life for themselves

among the wild herds, and that's exactly where they belong.

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