The worst nightmare

Only a few days passed after my last blog and this happened reiterating how important our eley safe wells are! On the opposite bank to where our elephant well is near Marti Dorop this terrible disaster happened.. Usually there is a dam full of water in this spot but because of the drought there is a real struggle for water and somebody dug a well in the middle.. Sadly this little family of 4, innocently wondered down and what followed was a terrible nightmare..

I start by saying thank you to Save the Elephant, Andrew Francombe, Reteti, NRT, KWS, and any one else involved behind the scenes… Also the community from the area that ran for help!.. and all our ‘Milgis’ scouts and lkiramats that tried their very best to help these 3 surviving elephants.. One was already dead when they got there..

this little family of elephants slipped into this well

From what the team who came to rescue the elephants thought.. Maybe the first youngster slipped into the well, possibly head first and mum probably tried to rescue her and slipped in herself, and again followed by the rest of the family..

Imagine the stress of landing in this situation in the night and then the roasting sun on their backs for a full day, or two.. nobody knows how long..

The mother tried to get her dead baby up all the time, while trying to comfort her other two.. one behind her and one on the other side..

Heart wrenching scene..

The little survivor

Thank goodness there was a tractor in the vicinity to help.. Thanks to NRT.. who had been rescuing another elephant just a little south of here in the Kiguar lugga..

Bit by bit the tractor dug around each elephant until they could move again. Check this fantastic video of the r.e.s.c.u.e….
And a lovely video (16 October) of a very tender scene between mum and youngster, in the well by STE. do watch it..

terrifying moments for this elephant, as the tractor was carefully digging around around her.. they had to torment her to save her life..

By the end when she was now alone in the hole and nothing to protect, as her two youngsters were out, she calmed down and accepted her fate.. Whats more when the water started seeping through on each side she started drinking and spraying it on her back

nearly out!! The hope was that she would pick up her little one and head out.. BUT sadly with over 24 hours in a desperate muddy hole, and then surrounded by a lot of people , and a noisy tractor there was probably no chance.. its sad really.. They tried really hard by leaving her alone, and the baby alone, but she actually nearly killed her in her distress.. WHAT TO DO.. ??

so this little one was taken to Reteti .. We wish them luck in saving her little life, and we thank them very much..

off she goes with her ‘new’ mum.. Naserian

We will of course work even harder to try to NOT LET THIS HAPPEN.. But you know the saying ‘you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’.. You can dig a lovely big open safe well for the elephants BUT sometimes they think the water is better in the other well..