Welcome Toto
It takes a village to raise an elephant.
Photo clip from video of orphaned Toto at Kaluku
If you are a paid subscriber here, you can claim foster parent rights to a four-year-old elephant orphan called Toto. A percentage of my subscriber income supports conservation in Kenya. Thanks to recent subscribers, I’ve added an orphan elephant named Toto to the conservation efforts my Heartfelt Stories support.
Toto comes with an extraordinary story.
On the afternoon of 1st April 2022, ex-orphans Loijuk; and her baby, Lili; Naisula; Kitirua; and Olare arrived at the Ithumba stockades. Much to the Keepers’ astonishment, they also had a tiny baby in tow. The calf was a few days old at most. He had clearly been without milk, given his weakened body condition and how he tried desperately to nurse from all the females present, but to no avail. Aside from Loijuk, who had baby Lili by her side, none of the females were old enough to be pregnant nor lactating, and certainly none of them were the baby’s mother.
We will never know how the calf found himself in the midst of our ex-orphans nor how he came to lose his mother. The ex-orphans must have come across him alone in the bush and, realising that he was in dire need of help, frogmarched him to the place they knew to be a refuge for all elephants: Our Ithumba stockades.
Head Keeper Benjamin raised the alarm and alerted the KWS warden to come witness what was unfolding. KWS called for a rescue, as with neonates, time is of the essence. The SWT helicopter made a quick journey to Ithumba from Kaluku, where it picked up the calf — who, given his tiny size, easily fitted inside — and flew him to our Kaluku Neonate Nursery. By sunset, he was safely ensconced in a warm stable.
Kenya is home to 42 distinct tribes, each one as nuanced and unique as the next. However, whether you are Luhya, Kikuyu or Maasai or Kamba, the arrival of a new child is a much-exalted blessing. The baby — mtoto in Swahili — is embraced not just into the nuclear family, but the wider tribe. Given how readily this baby elephant was embraced — first by the ex-orphans, and then by his new human-elephant family at Kaluku — it was only fitting to name him Toto, a riff on mtoto.
Read more about Toto here: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans/toto and watch a short video of his rescue and early days in the Kaluku Neonate Nursery.
Toto has graduated from the nursery to the Ithumba Reintegration Unit in Tsavo East National Park where he will continue his rewilding journey. Since I will stay at the Sheldrick Ithumba Lodge for three nights next January, I chose an orphan who is currently being cared for there in the hope I might meet Toto and photograph him.
Toto photo credit David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Elephants, like people, have unique personalities. The keepers July report from Ithumba shows that young Toto continues to capture the hearts of keepers and elephants alike.
Toto is just one of those elephants that everyone wants to take care of. He is gentle and sweet, and loves to be nurtured — especially by Kinyei and Kindani, who have adopted him as their littlest brother. (They still dote on Bondeni, too, but he's rapidly growing up!) One morning, Toto walked over to Kinyei and Kindani, squeezed himself between the girls, and took a nap standing sandwiched between their warm bodies. He adores them.
Kindani, Toto, and Bondeni photo credit Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
A recent story from Ithumba where ex orphans, wild elephants and young orphans intermingle daily shows our Toto is also clever and little sneaky!
From Ithumba Reintegration Unit July report
Almost all visitors (elephants) were welcome and peaceful additions to the group — with the notable exception of Wendi (now wild) and her daughters! Wendi is an irretrievable rogue, and it seems that her girls have inherited her character. One morning, Wendi stormed into the stockade area and kept chasing any elephant that came close to her, even the Keepers. Her daughters were behaving the same way and even tried to block Mwinzi, Toto, Natibu, and Weka from accessing the lucerne feeding area.
To our surprise and delight, it was sweet Toto who devised a plan to outwit the ill-tempered girls. He retreated as if going back to the stockade, then took a sharp turn around the water troughs and snuck around to the other side, where Wema and Wimbi could not see him. Natibu and Mwinzi mimicked this tactic, but it turned into a game of hide-and-seek with Wema and Wimbi. Once Wendi felt she had caused enough chaos, she strolled down to the water trough, clearing the way for the Keepers and the orphans.
As this anecdote shows, our new boys — Toto, Mwinzi, and Natibu — are fully settled into Ithumba life and continue to impress us with their cleverness.
Orphan elephant and keeper David Sheldrick Trust Nairobi Nursery ©kathykarn
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