Opinion: The intricacy of raising an orphaned elephant

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By Onesmus Mutuuza

The Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC) draws its mandates from the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre Act, 2015 where among others it’s mandated to rescue and rehabilitate wild animals that are orphaned, abandoned, injured and with an ultimate goal of releasing them back to their natural habitats.

Most often than not, rescued infant elephants arrive at the UWEC Zoo in Entebbe when they are severely traumatized by the events that left them orphaned.

There are myriad accounts that cause baby (calf) elephant to be separated from their mothers but 90% of the time it is always at hands of humans either through poaching or human elephant conflicts.

The infant inevitably enters a period of deep grieving for their lost loved ones, which can last for months.

During this critical period, their survival hangs in balance and not all the calves may be persuaded to find the will to live again UWEC offers a secure base and loving environment to nurture and raise these orphans in their time of greatest need.

Milk is a great component of the orphans care during their precarious early months. Human baby formula milk with some selected food supplements make there major diet.

Infant elephants are difficult feeders and thus this calls for the zoo keeper’s patience to encourage an orphan elephant to take enough milk.

Equally important is the hands husbandry needed to raise a psychologically sound calf.

The caretakers play a crucial role in this regard, stepping in as the elephants surrogate family.

One has to remain with orphan 24 hours a day, providing round-the-clock care, milk on demand and plenty of love and guidance, just as a mother would do in the wild.

The keepers sleep with the infants during the night, working on a rotational basis to avoid a calf becoming too attached to any person and pinning when that individual has to take rest.

Gradually, calves settle into a three hourly feeding routine throughout the day and night while the keepers remain ever present to represent the orphans ever lost family.

Teething is particularly a fraught time for elephant. The first molars erupt between one and fourths of age a process which can trigger fever, diarrhea, and compromised immune system.

This can be life threatening, plunging the calf into rapid physical decline which makes teething

the most challenging period when raising the elephants.

Onesmus Mutuuza with a baby elephant.

Baby elephants duplicate human children in so many ways, highly intelligent and with giant memory, they need toys and mental stimulation to thrive.

The care givers build all sorts of distractions into infant’s daily routines, taking them on long varied walks around the centre.

The babies have unlimited access to natures play items such as sticks and stones plus playthings like

rubber tubes and balls.

Cause for celebration is when an orphaned elephant plays for the first time, which shows that

they have embraced their new life. Only then can we be sure of a reasonable chance of success as

an elephant will only thrive if it’s happy.

As in human children, gentle discipline teaches the calf about what is and is not acceptable

behavior.

However, it must be meted out cautiously and with great sensitivity, through nothing more than a chastising tone of voice and accusatory wagging of the finger.

It is equally essential to make a big show of forgiveness later so that the calf understands that it was scolded not

because it’s not loved but rather for a momentary wrong doing.

With elephants, one reaps what one sows and how the animal reacts to humans when grown is dependent upon how they were treated by humans when they were young.

The third and fourth milk dependent years are the weaning years, when both the quantity and frequency of milk feeds is gradually reduced as vegetation becomes a greater part of the calf’s diet.

Elephants need varied diet comprised of different plants and tree bark which contain the minerals and trace elements needed to build and strengthen their enormous bones.

This plant selection is instinctive within an elephant’s genetic memory, and is not something that has to be

taught by humans.

However, leaving the care takers tale alone, Its extremely expensive venture for UWEC to support elephant growth a case in point is human baby formula that used to support the growth of elephants costs the Centre shs240,000  per day (USD 65) .This amounts to shs7.2 million (USD 2000) per month.

Other costs must be met in veterinary services, food items, construction elephant holdings and exhibits and paying human resources inter alia.

This is a huge drain on the organization’s meagre resources and financial envelope.

Recalling during the covid-19 pandemic when the centers gates were closed to the public and thus not earning any income. Fundraising for resources to cater for two elephants alongside other 254 animals was a test of trial.

About elephants in Uganda

Uganda has slightly more than 5000 elephants (WCS,2015) occurring Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo Valley and Murchison National parks, some forest dwelling elephant species occur in Kibale national parks and Bwindi-Mghahinga conservation area.

The 18th meeting on conference of parties for Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) in 2019, maintained Ugandan elephants in appendix 1 and are categorized by the  International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered.

Along elephant ranges, they are majorly killed for Ivory a precursor for poaching and human elephant conflicts especially with communities adjacent to protected areas.

However, strategic interventions are being undertaken to reverse the trend which include digging of trenches to deter elephants from crossing to community land, supporting community on alternative sources of livelihood that are pro-conservation such as apiary and growing of red pepper on park and community land boundaries.

Additionally a compensation scheme is currently catered for under the Uganda Wildlife Act of 2019.

These efforts have been a game changer in the face of elephant conservation something that has brought a population increase of less 600 elephants in 1986 to more than 5000 elephants .

Today Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre plays a pivotal role in elephant conservation as highlighted in  the 2016-2026 elephant conservation action plan ,UWEC Act 2015 which include supporting expert veterinary services to elephants in need in all the national parks, rehabilitating the severely injured ones at the centre in addition to hand raising the orphaned ones.

Also conservation education programs have been scaled up both onsite and in the communities to increase awareness on elephant conservation and inspire positive attitudes.

It’s however eminent that poaching steals from us, the resources invested in elephant conservation due to lack of selflessness in communities would have been invested in other public good social projects.

This is in addition to losing ecological services, aesthetic values and improved tourism potential.

Onesmus Mutuuza a zoo keeper at the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education.

 

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