All Animals Once Belonged to Women
All animals once belonged to women – Samburu Creation Story
It’s January 9th 2018, I am the only guest at Sarara Camp in almost a million acres of pristine wilderness – there are no other cars and no other visitors using this area. I do not feel lonely, I feel lucky. I had 6 days of unscheduled time in Kenya to plan a solo safari trip. My travel agent, asked what I wanted. “I’d like to see another part of Kenya. I’d like to go north. I love all wildlife, particularly elephants,” I told her. “You should go to Sarara Camp, Reteti Elephant Orphanage has just opened in Samburu County in the Mathews Mountain Range of Northern Kenya,” she replied.
Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is the first indigenous community owned and run elephant rescue orphanage in East Africa. It reflects a growing movement in community focused conservation practices where the local people work to protect the wildlife they have co-existed with for hundreds of years. A new wave of understanding is bringing people and wildlife together recognizing a deeper core value of what nature represents to their community and their future. Human wildlife conflict is reduced when locals recognize that rescuing and protecting elephants brings employment, education, and security to their people. When we take care of the vulnerable, we find purpose. Compassion breeds understanding, and understanding breeds tolerance.
Due to relentless poaching in the 1970’s and 1980’s elephants were wiped out in the Mathews Mountain Range of Northern Kenya. Today thousands of elephants live peacefully along with other wildlife like leopards, lions, buffalo and giraffe. Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is not only a place to take care of orphaned animals, just as importantly it is a place that is changing attitudes, breaking down stereotypes, and redefining wildlife management.
I was eager to visit Reteti and meet these northern elephants and their caretakers. When we arrived the resident group of orphans was still out in the bush for their daily walk. Standing in the centre of the compound was a tiny elephant calf – it could not have been more than a few weeks old. She looked so alone. She had been recently rescued from the bottom of a local well. Unable to get her out, her herd had abandoned her. She was discovered by the local Samburu herders when they came to water their cattle the following morning and brought to Reteti. She was too young to go out yet with the rest of the orphans for the daily walk.
When the rambunctious young elephants returned for their nightly feed the tiny baby was escorted into the safety of her stable for the night. Her caretaker would stay with her all night feeding her every three hours and comforting her as she dealt with the trauma of losing her mother. My heart melted as I watched her obediently follow her human guardian off to bed. Thanks to Reteti Elephant Sanctuary she now stood a chance of growing up and being reintegrated into the wild. Elephants have extraordinary memories, perhaps she would even meet up with her original family one day.
Loud trumpeting at the gate to the compound caught my attention. A restless group of young elephants paced back and forth eager to come in for their next bottle feed. Inside a group of keepers lined up, bottles in hand ready for the stampede of hungry calves.
The gate opened and the race was on! Trunks waving, trumpeting loudly each calf ran to a keeper who was ready with an elephant sized baby bottle.
They downed the milk in record time then the energy shifted to a massive love in. If you have experienced the eager affection from a dog when you return home, imagine that dance of love and excitement elephant sized!
The elephants showed their love with trunk hugs, whispering loving rumbles in their human caregivers’ ears. They suckled on fingers and sniffed the keepers with their trunks taking comfort in familiar sights and smells. Each of these babies has a trauma story. Like human trauma survivors they need lots of time, love and attention to heal. The orphans lined up for hugs before they moved off to play or explore the visitor stand where I was filming.
To my delight a trunk waved above the wall where I was standing. I reached out to rub the trunk and leaned over the wall for a close up of my visitor. I was wearing a multi strand beaded bracelet. The end of an elephant’s trunk is shaped like a finger and is just as useful. The young elephant explored every strand of beads with its trunk with the dexterity of a human hand.
Reteti is also unique because it hires women as care givers for the orphans. This empowering model is showing young Samburu women that they can have a meaningful role in the workplace, taking care of animals. Employment has a ripple effect within families providing funding for education, daily living and healthcare. I met one of the women keepers who was caring for a young orphaned rhino. It was obvious how devoted this rhino was to his keeper as he followed her around bleating like a lamb. I’ll save the rhino story for another time.
Lupita Nyong’o, a young Samburu woman tells the story of how Reteti Elephant Orphanage is impacting her life and her community’s relationship with elephants in the film My Africa by Conservation International (9 minutes). The images in this film take me back to my magical time at Sarara Camp and visiting Reteti.
How You Can Help
When people play a role caring for and protecting wildlife, then an essential bond is established – a bond of pride, love and understanding. Animals can teach us so much about their role in keeping our planet green and healthy. Profits from my current Heartfelt Endeavours Campaign supports conservation in East Africa. The average monthly wage for one elephant keeper is $290.00. Due to COVID 19 Reteti has not had any visitors for months. Yet the work goes on. Reteti is dependent on donations for milk costs, veterinary care, rescue costs, operations of the stables and wages for staff. You can support their work by donating directly to Reteti or shopping in my online store.