Kenya: Baby elephant rescued by Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

In Tsavo National Park, Kenya, a cub from elephant. Melia, onebe elephant gave birth to her little elephant Milo. Melia had been taken in by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a foundation dedicated to restoring orphaned elephants and rhinoceroses.

The puppy is in excellent health and robust. It joins the center’s other two births: three-week-old Wimbie and seven-month-old Mambo. There are three species of elephant in the wild: two in Africa (the African and the forest elephant), another species is found in Asia.

All three elephant species are threatened with extinction, primarily due to habitat loss and fragmentation due to human expansion and the consequent conversion of natural habitats to agricultural areas and settlements. Added to this is poaching for the illegal trade in tusks and the consumption of meat.

WWF

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a purpose-driven organization protection of the animals. The WWF, in collaboration with the World Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has also launched a program called ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System). It’s about a database managed by TRAFFIC, the international network monitoring the trade in endangered wildlife. The problem encountered is the high trade in illegal ivory over the last thirty years. A phenomenon that must be minimized or even eliminated to save these animals from extinction.