Episode 2 Elephant Diaries

Previously on Elephant Diaries, I met up with an old friend, Wendi.

She seems to be having a bit of an identity crisis, more interested

in interacting with people than elephants.

And a tiny three-week-old baby elephant was rescued

when he collapsed in the wild.

After a few days in the orphanage in Nairobi,

Daphne made a devastating discovery.

Unfortunately, one eye is blind,

the other one looks like it is going blind.

So, we've got a blind elephant.

We're following the stories

of a group of orphaned baby elephants in Kenya.

All of them have been rescued by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust,

and brought to a unique orphanage in Nairobi.

Here they're reared and nurtured by a team of 20 dedicated keepers

under the guidance of the orphanage founder,

Dame Daphne Sheldrick.

The ultimate aim is to get them back to the wild in Tsavo National Park.

Ndololo is the newest arrival,

and despite his blindness, he's making steady progress.

The other orphans are out in the bush,

but for now, Ndololo is being kept in isolation.

Everyone adores him, especially Head Keeper Edwin.

He's a very clever, clever boy.

Ah...

Very selective,

because at the moment, he tries to smell around all the keepers

and can find out the favourite among the keepers.

And in return, they attend to his every need,

protecting his delicate ears with sun cream,

and shading him from the midday sun.

They're determined to give him the best chance of survival,

and what's giving everyone hope

is that the vet thinks his blindness might be curable.

Everybody is pity about him, and everybody is worried about him,

so everybody wants to take care of him,

everybody wants to be concerned with him,

everybody wants to be close to him, to see that he can actually improve.

Only time will tell if his eyesight will get better,

but hopefully he should be well enough

to meet the other little orphans very soon. But for now,

playing with the big boys and girls is out of the question.

Their games are far too exciting, and there's a reason for this.

All of these elephants have had a really tough start to life.

They've all experienced tragedy, and they've all had to grow up

and learn lessons far quicker than they would have done in the wild.

But, nevertheless, they're still very young,

and so it's still important for them to get some exercise,

let off some steam, and have some fun, and what better way to do that

than a good old game of football?

These games are more than just a chance

for the orphans to run rings around the keepers.

Playing is a great way for this little herd of unrelated babies

to bond with each other.

The friendships the little elephants form here in Nairobi are for life,

because when you've lost your family, friends are all you've got.

And these bonds will stay with the orphans

as they reach the age to leave the nursery

and go through to the next stage in their journey back to the wild.

And this second stage is the one I'm following

down here in Tsavo National Park.

I'm on my way to one of the Trust's two release sites

to catch up with an orphan called Wendi.

This is Ithumba, and it has to be one of the wildest places in Kenya.

But it's also where the little elephants from the Nairobi orphanage

are brought to begin the process of introducing them back into the wild.

But not only is it wild, it is stunningly beautiful,

and a safe haven for the elephants, too. Perfect.

Down here, the elephants spend the night in open-air stockades,

and go out into the bush each day

to learn everything they need to know about life in the wild.

But my main concern here at the moment

is to see how Wendi is getting on. At the age of four,

she should be settled into life with her elephant family,

and forming close bonds with other females in her herd.

But because she was raised by humans from the day she was born,

Wendi has other ideas.

You can see how Wendi, really, at the moment,

is much more interested in people than she is in the other elephants.

She's completely isolated here. That's not what we want.

We want her to be an elephant. But at the same time,

we ARE her family, the keepers are her family.

We have to play that role for her if it's what she needs.

And each of these animals are very distinct characters.

Right now, Wendi seems almost lonely at times,

as if she doesn't quite know what to do with herself.

This is a complex problem,

and shows how sensitive and intelligent elephants are,

but Daphne and the keepers

are hoping that they have come up with a solution.

Crucially, it's something which will help her bond with other elephants,

and it involves some of the little orphans up in Nairobi with Michaela.

There are ten of them living here at the moment,

but things are about to change.

The nursery is a great place for all these orphans

to start their journey back into the wild.

However, they all get to an age, around the age of two,

where they need to move on to the next stage of their rehabilitation.

Now, currently in this group there are three elephants

that are big enough to make that move.

So, how is this going to help Wendi? When she was in Nairobi

she was the mini-matriarch, and this is the key to the whole plan.

What they're going to do

is when they move the new group of little elephants

from the orphanage in Nairobi up here to Ithumba,

they're going to separate them in one part of the stockade,

and they are going to put Wendi with them. Now, that will suddenly

give her a role again. It'll give her a purpose in life.

It'll make her a mini-matriarch again. I just hope the plan works!

Here in Nairobi, preparations are in full swing for this move,

which is due to happen early tomorrow morning.

So for the keepers, it's time to say goodbye

to the three who are leaving.

Among them is a little elephant called Orok.

He's the smallest and the most nervous of the three.

The move could be pretty stressful for him,

and he's really going to need a big friend like Wendi

to take care of him.

So it's as important for Orok as it is for Wendi that the plan works.

Back at the stables, the trucks are ready and waiting

to take all three to their new life.

After an early start, the three little elephants from Nairobi

are well on their way down to join Wendi and the others

here in Ithumba.

It's eight hot hours in a truck,

driving deep into Tsavo National Park, which will be home

for the rest of their lives.

Here they come.

HE LAUGHS

They seem none the worse for their ordeal, although I have to say,

little Orok does look quite anxious.

It must be tough for them. Different voices, different sounds, different smells,

a whole different place for them.

But the one thing they've got, of course, is the keepers -

the keepers are the continuity in this whole project.

And wherever they are, Nairobi, Ithumba, they will be very much loved.

This one, the littlest one, Orok,

you can tell its whole body language

says "I'm nervous, I'm not sure where I am.

"In eight hours, you've moved me, you've changed my whole world."

Poor little Orok. I mean, he looks so scared.

He really does need a bigger elephant to take him under her wing.

And we're all hoping it's going to be Wendi.

OK, here come the other elephants, and amongst them is Wendi. This could be crucial.

ANXIOUS TRUMPETING

OK, what does that say in elephant language?

I reckon it says, "There's something going on here and we want to know what it is."

The whole herd are so excited,

and the little ones are being thoroughly checked over.

Just reassuring. Just touching, feeling.

"Are you OK? Everything's fine, don't worry.

"You're in a new place, but it's going to be OK."

Orok needs some reassurance, so where is Wendi?

There she is - and how typical, she's taking no interest,

just doing her own thing.

Let's hope the enthusiasm of the others rubs off on her,

and she starts to feel maternal towards these little ones.

She's going to be put in charge of them in the stockade tonight,

and during the night is when Orok will need her most.

But it's not only the Ithumba herd meeting new friends.

Up in Nairobi, the keepers have decided

that Ndololo is finally ready to meet the other orphans.

He's been kept apart from them till now,

as he's been too weak to meet them,

but now he's getting so much stronger,

it's time to say hello.

Despite their overwhelming curiosity,

the bigger orphans are being very gentle and careful,

and seem to be able to sense Ndololo's fragility.

But doting Edwin and the keepers are watching very closely

to make sure their precious little elephant is coping.

The meeting has gone well,

but it will be a long time before Ndololo is ready

to join the whole gang for their daily walks out into the bush...

..and the little elephant is led back to his stable

for a much-needed rest.

Down here in Ithumba, the eles are heading for bed.

An area of the stockade has been sectioned off

so that Wendi can be put in charge of the three new arrivals.

This is her chance to be a mini-matriarch again,

and for Orok, a chance to get some much-needed TLC.

It's a little bit like kids at their first night at boarding school.

The three new ones off by themselves

where they feel safest, with the keepers.

The three that know the ropes, including Wendi,

are just very relaxed, as you'd expect. They know the routine here.

Our new ones don't yet.

Little Orok seems quite stressed

and is looking for comfort, but no-one is interested.

You can imagine how different, though, this is,

this set-up, for our three little elephants from Nairobi,

because normally, at this time of the day in the evening,

they'd be going back to a stable - their own place to sleep -

with their keeper.

Suddenly, this is big and scary. "What's this about?"

Poor little Orok is getting pushed around,

and it's Wendi that's doing it!

There are a couple of older elephants in there as well,

and they are following her lead, pushing and shoving.

This is not quite going to plan,

but what they don't realise is they're being watched from next door.

You see the way Nasalot, she's one of the bigger elephants...

is just thinking, "What's happening here?

"I want to go and check those little ones out."

And that's exactly what you'd expect from one of these bigger elephants,

acting as an auntie. She's not the matriarch...

but she's a very, very caring elephant.

She's desperate to get in there and look after the little ones,

but this is supposed to be Wendi's job.

You know, Wendi is SO naughty. It's not what I expected.

I was hoping that she was going to sort of smother these little ones

with a bit of love, but instead, it's just like,

you know, "What are you doing here?" She's pushing them out of the way.

You can see right there, actually getting quite shovey, quite pushy.

THEY GRUNT

Hang on, what's this?

OK, the keepers are putting Nasalot in with the little ones,

and they certainly look pleased to see her!

Oh, look! Just look at them!

Now, that's interesting. That was Wendi,

just being basically told, "Sorry.

"You're not going to stay with those little ones."

Maybe she was being a bit too rough.

Nasalot's immediately taking over the babysitting of these little ones,

comforting and soothing them. You can see the effect she's having.

They're so much more relaxed,

and the whole atmosphere has calmed right down.

So for the first night, these little ones are going to have

a very big sister, and it won't be Wendi.

But the big question is, what's going to happen to Wendi?

How are they ever going to get her to bond with the rest of the herd now?

It's been a few weeks since the little blind calf Ndololo

arrived in a terrible state at the Nairobi nursery,

and he's making really good progress.

He goes on daily outings, and the keepers have come up with

a simple but effective way to help him cope.

The first day we took him out,

he was very happy to go out with a keeper,

trying to make a sound with a stick,

and he was actually was following the sound and the keeper as well.

He knew that, because he could not see, could not use his eyes,

that he could use that to direct him to show where the keepers are

and he was very happy to spend out the day with a keeper.

He's got a strong spirit to live.

He actually has the desire to go on, despite the fact that he can't see.

You see him want to run around in the bush

and sometimes hits the trees. So he doesn't mind being blind -

he wants to behave like a real wild elephant,

despite the fact he's blind.

He's still under treatment for his eye condition,

but it's too early to tell if it's working.

Unfortunately, he's not yet ready to go out with the rest of the orphans.

He could never keep up, let alone cope with

the rough and tumble of their daily outings.

In the afternoons it's often time for a bit of exploration,

and today we're taking our little orphans to the quarry.

The quarry is full of beautiful, soft, iron-rich red earth,

and the eles love it!

Every time these elephants come to this quarry they seem to have a good time.

They just love to get stuck in and have a good old dust bath.

It does have a purpose - it cleans them,

it protects them from the sun, gets rid of parasites -

but you know what, at this age

I think it's more to do with having fun and just getting dirty.

This is actually very funny, this bit here.

They seem to be using it as a slide,

and once one elephant does it, another comes along and has a go.

But Makena, the smallest elephant here,

is only interested in playing with the herd's mini-matriarch Lualeni.

These two have a very close and loving bond,

and it's one of the wonderful things about elephants - the way

they form these deep, lifelong friendships with each other.

This is something I'm hoping to see

as I head back towards the Ithumba stockade.

It's been a couple of weeks since I was last here,

and I'm hoping that Wendi has started to bond again

with the other elephants.

But first, I want to check out Orok, as the keepers say

he's formed a strong attachment to one of the older elephants,

and I've arrived just in time for midday milk.

Look at that, look at the dust! Look at the excitement.

This is the last group of elephants,

and amongst them, there in the middle, that's the one

I've been waiting for, that's Orok.

Now he's one of the ones that we moved from Nairobi just recently,

and he has made a relationship with Nasalot. She's like his mum,

and wherever she goes, he tries to follow.

Just coming through the middle here, the tiniest of all.

Looking just a touch confused,

but knows what's good for him.

And just going past him, I think that's Nasalot.

That's his surrogate mother.

Just a touch of nervousness. And you'd expect it.

This little elephant didn't come to the orphanage

until he was 18 months old, so he knew all about his wild family.

He knew what he was missing when he was orphaned.

His mother got sick, she died, and at a year and a half

he was suddenly torn away from his complete support system.

Look.

Now, you see? Nervous. "Where's Mum?

"Where's my new mum?"

He's looking for Nasalot.

"Where is she?" He's on the search, look.

Look at the difference between him and the other elephants.

All the other elephants, quiet, relaxed,

and he's looking for somebody. Here comes Nasalot.

THEY GRUNT

See the trunk go out.

And that's what he needs right now. He needs that reassurance.

The keepers are not enough for him.

And that's the reason why Nasalot actually joins Orok -

to keep him calm, to keep him settled.

Totally different behaviour now.

Once Mum's that big presence behind him, just reassuring,

and of course, that's what he'd get from his mother.

One of the things that I love about elephants,

and you can see it happening right here in front of you,

is the empathy that they have for one another.

These two elephants aren't related - it's not a mother and calf -

but you'd never know it,

because they really do seem to care, and actually I think it's essential

to Orok, the little elephant, to have that kind of nurturing right now.

He needs it, and Nasalot knows it,

and she's prepared to give it to him, that's just the most wonderful thing.

So, life's looking great for Orok,

and the keepers tell me that the other two little eles

who came up with him have also settled in really well.

But what about Wendi?

Well, it looks as if things have really turned around for her, too.

I mean, just look at Wendi!

When we brought those three little orphans from Nairobi to Ithumba,

we thought that Wendi would adopt the role of the matriarch,

she would be like a mother to them. Well, it didn't happen.

But look at her now! She's beginning to actually move away

from that dependence on people and become an elephant.

To be part of the herd, just to have fun.

Just to enjoy herself! It's almost as if she's growing up a little bit

but, very much now, connected with being an elephant,

and that's just what we wanted.

So, what could have prompted Wendi's change of heart?

Maybe, with three new babies in the herd

occupying the keeper's attention, she decided it was time

to look to the other elephants for companionship again.

We'll never know the answer, but what I can definitely say

is that she's back to being her old, happy self again.

Up in Nairobi, it's a big day for Ndololo.

After weeks of treatment, it's time to see

if there's been any improvement in his eyesight.

The result could decide

whether he has any chance of a life back in the wild.

Angela Sheldrick, Daphne's daughter, has brought the vet to see him.

Hiya!

Angela, there's no question, the opacity is much reduced.

There's no question of it, and he is a bit visual.

He could see me. He could see...

He could distinguish my silhouette, and that's why he was looking at me.

But also, all his other senses have compensated.

-Yeah?

-That's the bad eye, Sanjay.

-Yeah.

-See...? Just on the centre there...

-Oh, I can see...

I can see the fungus. I can see it.

This is... No, this is really good. I'm not surprised he can see so well.

-So you think there's definitely some vision?

-Yeah, definitely.

Definitely.

-Yeah.

-Light and dark and shape?

-Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

You're going to be all right!

Isn't that amazing?

It's fantastic news for everyone,

especially Ndololo.

It's nightfall in Ithumba,

and the elephants have returned to the stockade.

They sleep behind electric fences to keep them in and predators out.

Using specialised equipment, I'm going to get a unique insight

into what Wendi and Orok do once the lights go out!

It's such a privilege to come up to the stockade at night.

I mean, it's a different world, because, after all, remember,

the night, particularly for the little ones, must be really scary,

little Orok recently having moved here from Nairobi.

I mean, if it wasn't for Nasalot,

this big elephant that's acting as mum to them,

this would be a really tough time for them.

THEY TRUMPET

HE LAUGHS Now, next door to Nasalot and Orok

and these elephants, we've got the youngsters, the adolescents.

We've got Wendi and her chums,

and they are just like a naughty bunch of schoolkids.

They've been sent to bed, the lights are out,

and suddenly it's like, "OK, is it safe?"

and they start just mucking around. I mean, they're having such fun.

You can see that Orok is determined to stay as close as he can,

just as he does during the daytime, to Nasalot, to his surrogate mum,

and it must be so comforting for him, because remember,

this little elephant, he lost his herd, he lost his mum

when he was 18 months old, so he has a real memory of the wild herd.

So this must be just heaven for that little elephant.

Next door Wendi is thoroughly enjoying her new-found friendships -

she's not allowing her sleepover chums to get any rest at all!

You can see Nasalot's eyes now just beginning to droop.

She's obviously very tired, and the reason, I'm sure it is,

is because she's got new responsibilities.

She's got a little elephant,

little Orok, to look after, and it's obviously taking it out of her.

There she goes! Nasalot's finally given in.

She's just toppling over, just going down on her side.

That must feel so good!

You can see that Orok... I mean, it's just like during the daytime,

he wants to be as close as he possibly can to Nasalot.

So he's curled up there, right, just between her legs.

It's just like a cradle for him. He must feel so contented doing that.

That's lovely, the way Wendi and the others now,

they've finally had enough. The party's over,

and they're going to get some sleep.

This really proves to me that both Wendi and Orok

have found their place in the family. They seem so content.

Up in Nairobi,

morning brings unexpected and totally devastating news.

Little Ndololo has died very suddenly,

and the keepers are in shock.

He was fine.

Eyesight coming back...

..putting on weight,

lively, feeding well,

and then he just suddenly went off his food in the morning

and was dead an hour later.

So we were all devastated, of course.

The tragedy was that we really thought he had a chance.

And he did so want to live.

We all loved him to bits...

..but...

it was not to be.

Edwin has seen his share of tragedies here,

but this death has hit him very hard.

I feel very sad and very shocked about it,

because I loved that baby elephant.

The Trust did absolutely everything they could

to save this little calf. Across their three centres,

they currently care for over 50 orphaned elephants,

but almost the same number have been rescued and not made it,

and these are tough statistics for the team to live with.

Every elephant is precious,

but for Daphne and the whole team in Nairobi,

this particular little elephant will never be forgotten.

And the fight to save Kenya's wild orphans will go on.

Next time on Elephant Diaries...

We've just heard from Daphne

that another orphan has been brought into the stockade

and I'm just hoping that it's in a lot better condition

than little Ndololo was. Let's go and check him out.

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and the people who work with them, visit...

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