By Peter-Vincent Schuld

Your memory will function better than an elephant’s only once, only once. When? If you’ve ever had a cuddle with a baby elephant’s trunk. It happened to your reporter and he never forgot it.
With him many others who have had the honor of receiving a hug from these special and very intelligent animals.
There you are as a grown-up guy, moved by the affection shown by this special animal. Perhaps it’s a good thing that we, as reporters, aren’t always caught up in the perennial professional deformity called “cynicism.”

We are located in the outskirts of overcrowded Nairobi, the capital of Kenya in East Africa. Once past the slums.

The stage is a safe haven of grassland and red earth. Around me are caretakers in green coats with a soft look in their eyes.
You will naturally warm in character if you have the privilege of working with the most gracious creatures of our earth on a daily basis. However, the history of caring for elephant children has a dark side. The mothers of these babies have all been murdered. Brutally murdered for the sake of that damned ivory.

Not just ivory

Unfortunately, the illegal hunting of elephants continues unabated. Armed rangers patrol the land and air to stay one step ahead of the poachers and, if necessary, to kill the ruthless poachers before the criminals have been able to shoot the totally defenseless animals.

The serious criminals no longer only hunt the vulnerable animals. Those who guard them have also been subjected to brutal massacres. Both on patrol and off-duty, the criminal gangs do not hesitate to take out the elephants’ guardian angels in the hope of gaining even more free rein. In this way they try to continue their incessant hunt for ivory.

Ivory is not the only thing that is being looted. They are also elephant babies who are unscrupulously robbed of their mothers.

The British-Kenyan Major David Sheldrick has been concerned about the welfare of the elephants since he was 28 years old (1948, ed.) and fought against the armed poachers. He became superintendent of the Tsavo National Park in Kenya, the largest nature reserve.

He spent much of his time studying the elephants’ behavior. With his wife Daphne, Sheldrick began rescuing and caring for vulnerable elephants, rhinos and antelopes. Unfortunately, David Sheldrick was not allowed to grow old. At the age of 57, this savior of nature died in 1977. His wife Daphne Sheldrick wanted to continue his life’s work and founded the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which resulted in the David Sheldrick Orphanage, located near the adjacent Nairobi National Park. In this “orphanage” mainly elephants but also rhinos are taken care of and literally bottle-fed. The orphanage attracts a lot of visitors every year, so it also provides income with which the Trust finances its activities.

In this orphanage, the relationship between humans and animals is handled responsibly. No animals are drugged or abused here to be able to take pictures with the tourists. Here, your reporter emptied his wallet and doesn’t regret it for a second to this day. The money has gone to good use. Where millions of elephants once inhabited the African continent, this number has dwindled to about 450,000. You guessed it, a lot of money is needed to protect these animals.

Ondertussen worden onze olifantjes verwend met verse melk en liggen ze te spelen in het zand. Baby’s die misschien nog wel te jong zijn om te beseffen welk leed hun moeders is aangedaan. Uw verslaggever kijkt zijn ogen uit en raakt ontroerd door een olifantje die goedendag komt zeggen, zijn slurfje stevig om mijn nek legt en eigenlijk vraagt “ga niet weg”. Ik mis het moppie nog voordat ik het terrein verlaten heb. Woedend om het leed dat olifanten wordt aangedaan, geëmotioneerd door de liefdevolle knuffels, dankbaar omdat ik dit mocht beleven.

Je moet wel van beton zijn als je niet smelt bij het aanschouwen van deze taferelen
Maar wat zou het mooi zijn dat de olifanten geen knuffels en melk meer nodig hadden van mensen, maar deze gewoon kregen van hun olifanten-ouders. Maar zoals altijd…… de mens verpest weer eens deze natuurlijke idylle.

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