http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

I have been a supporter of this charity now for about the past 3 yrs. for just $50 a year, you can 'adopt' an orphaned elephant and help support them all being raised and then gradually integrated back o to the wild. The whole process takes a good 10 yrs or more. I knew, therefore, that I could not come to Kenya without making time for these orphans and I was lucky enough to devote several days completely to them in 2 units. The Nairobi nursery unit - for babies up to about 3 hrs or so and the Voi u it in Tsavo East, where the nursery graduates really start learning the skills they need to survive in a wild herd.

At the Nairobi nursery, there is a public viewing at 11am and the private foster-parents at 5pm. I'm sure it's viewed as a necessary evil - essential in gaining support and funding, yet not wanting to expose the elephants to so much human presence. The keepers feel that it's not detrimental and it's proven in their track record, that they seem to manage to integrate with wild herds and former orphans 'the ex-orphans' are now reproducing, although they never seem to forget their human family.