Reteti Rescue Sanctuary
Reteti Rescue Sanctuary is a Legend partner organization based in Northern Kenya. Established in response to the local communities' demands to support local wildlife populations, Reteti's primary aim is to rescue orphaned or abandoned elephants. Elephant calves may be orphaned from a variety of instances: While elephant poaching is rampant throughout Africa, calves are also susceptible to drought, natural disasters, and other forms of human-wildlife interactions and conflicts.
While the organization's ultimate goal is rehabilitating the elephants to allow them to rejoin the local wild herds, Reteti also works closely with their community, growing local economies and supporting other sustainability efforts.
A Family in Distress
Several weeks ago, Reteti was involved in one of their most complex and dangerous rescues yet: A family of four elephants trapped in a community well in the neighbouring area of Milgis. A mother was held fast in the deep mud of the well along with her three female calves, including a one-week old newborn. After two days of struggling to save herself and her children, her eldest calf had succumbed to exhaustion and passed away. "It was clear the Mother was visibly depressed and had given up- she had already lost one calf and her youngest was out of reach" , says the Reteti rescue team.
Nevertheless, once it was clear the team was there to help, the Mother "became more comfortable... and even helped to push the tractor scoop", the team shared.
A Bittersweet Ending
After hours of hard work from both the Reteti rescue team and local community volunteers, the elephants were finally freed- but not without consequence. The trauma of being trapped and losing her eldest calf left the Mother scared and confused upon release, and she no longer accepted the youngest calf as her own.
Now, Mother and her now-eldest calf are safely back in the wild with their local herd. As for the youngest? "[She] is safe and sound at Reteti, where she will receive the very best care", shares the team.
A Global Effort
Large-scale conservation efforts like these would not be possible without the collaborative efforts of countless individuals. The survival of this elephant family was only possible because of the entire Reteti team, their local community, and support of these projects by people across the world like you!
The Elephant Legend Bracelet
Legend has partnered with Reteti Elephant Sanctuary to help support their mission to save orphaned and abandoned elephant calves and releasing them back into wild herds.
