A Touching Story: Loijuk The Wild Elephant And The Newborn She Introduces To Her Rescuers

We all love sweet stories about humans saving animals out of the kindness of their hearts and bringing them back to the wild when they no longer need them. In this beautiful story, a mother elephant – who had a heartwarming rescue story of her own – brings her newborn elephant baby to meet the people who rescued her. The origins of Loijuk’s rescue and the introduction of her precious baby happened will surely brighten your day and put a smile on your face because we all love a wholesome tale like this one! 

In 2006, an orphaned elephant named Loijuk was rescued by Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) in Kenya. She was only five months old when she was found all by herself and was hand-raised by SWT until she was old enough to be released back into the wild. 

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is one of the oldest wildlife charities and a leading conservation organization in Africa. SWT embraces all measures that complement the conservation, protection, and preservation of all wildlife (specifically, elephants). 

Founded in 1977, the Trust has been in existence for 45 years. SWT was created by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick DBE, in memory of her late husband David Leslie William MBE – the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust possesses a rich and deeply rooted family history. David was considered one of Africa’s most famous pioneer National Park Wardens. 

Born in 1934, Daphne has always been a devoted lover of animals, and her involvement with wildlife spanned an entire lifetime (60 years). She was deemed an international authority on the rearing of wild creatures. Miraculously, she was the first person to perfect the milk formula and husbandry needed to successfully and appropriately raise infant milk-dependent elephants and rhinos. 

After David passed away, Daphne and her family lived and worked in the Nairobi National Park where they built the enduring legacy of SWT and the pioneering work of the Orphans’ Project into the global force for wildlife conservation.  

Considering that most of Kenya had been facing a massive drought that year, its landscape was dry and desiccated. As a result, all of the wildlife there was experiencing severe dehydration, as was baby Loijuk.  

When Loijuk arrived at a nursery, things didn’t seem particularly promising for the little elephant. Although she was really emaciated and weak, she did take milk. The following day was hard, her temperature decreased significantly and her trunk was damp with liquid spewing from her lungs, both behind her ears, and her trunk was ice cold.  

Ever since SWT nursed baby Loijuk to health, she still has close ties to her human family. Family is important to Loijuk, considering she started her own. Even after years have gone by, she returns to visit her caretakers at SWT each month. This time, with a little surprise. 

Loijuk stays close to the area around the unit, enabling the keepers to watch over her and see how she is doing. In the wild, calves are raised with the assistance of female relatives within the herd. Loijuk served as a dutiful nanny to other babies before she gave birth to Lili, who now has two nannies of her own! They are wild orphans, like Loijuk, named Naserian and Ithumbah.

As the 31st calf born to female orphaned elephants raised by SWT now living in the wild, Lili is a shining beacon of hope for other elephant populations everywhere who are in danger. Thank goodness for places like the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust that dedicate their lives to rescuing orphaned elephants and giving them the companionship and nourishment they can’t live without.  

Orphaned elephants, if not rescued and cared for, lose their mothers due to poaching and other harmful environmental conditions like drought. Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has contributed extremely important and life-changing work for these elephants who had nowhere else to go. 

Sunyei was raised by SWT in Kenya, just like Loijuk. As with many elephants at the conservation center, she was rehabilitated into one of the ex-orphan herds once she was fully grown in 2009. Ex-orphan herds with calves usually stay close to the units, but one of the male elephants will typically travel further out. 

After a video went viral on social media of Sunyei greeting Benjamin with her trunk, it took the workers a while to realize that Sunyei’s daughter (who they named Siku), was only a mere few hours old! 

Much like Loijuk, Sunyei grew up recognizing that Benjamin and the rest of the keepers are her family. With that being said, Sunyei makes everybody aware that she will only ignite the interaction on her terms. The keepers are well aware of this custom. 

Sunyei was a small infant when she arrived at the conservation center after falling down a hole in a river. Before about 6:45 pm, Sunyei arrived at the Nairobi Nursery. She was given the usual antibiotic precautionary injection and gulped down 3 pints of milk and 3 pints of hydration. Sunyei slept quietly through the night. 

After elephants grow to their full maturity, ex-orphans are integrated into the wild once more, often joining with other ex-orphan herds, as Sunyei did in 2009. 

Siku and Sunyei are doing miraculously, according to Brandford. He stated, “Sunyei and her baby Siku continue to thrive and we’ve been lucky to see them and their herd on and off during July and August after an absence of three months.” 

Elephants have an incredible memory and they can distinctly remember faces. The orphans can always venture back into the Reintegration Units whenever they want to. Whether it’s a quick “hello,” checking in on the orphans, or sometimes even returning for some water (SWT water holes are refilled daily), and hay, the elephants know where to go. 

Elephants are remarkable creatures that are the biggest land mammals on earth and have distinctly gigantic bodies and big ears. They weigh 4-6 tons and are approximately 18-24 feet in length. Their long trunks are their most crucial asset – they’re able to pick up objects, trumpet warnings, greet other elephants, and suck up water for drinking and bathing.  

There are two types of African elephants that exist with varying characteristics: the savanna elephant and the forest elephant. The African savanna elephant is the largest elephant species, whereas the Asian forest elephant is smaller in size. 

Elephant groups are led by a matriarch elephant and organized into complex social structures of male and female calves. Male elephants usually live in isolation or in small bachelor groups. 

The Forest elephants’ social groups differ in that they may only be comprised of an adult female and her offspring. However, they may congregate in larger groups in forest clearings where there are more abundant resources available to them. These groups are often smaller than those of the savanna elephants.

Elephants are crucial to maintaining the forest and savanna ecosystems for other species and are uniquely tied to rich biodiversity. They are important ecosystem engineers, making pathways in densely forested habitats for other animals. Remarkably, an elephant’s footprint enables a micro-ecosystem that, when brimming with water, can be a home for tadpoles and other organisms.  

As of 2021, elephants were officially declared endangered by the International Union for Conversation of Nature (ICUN). There are approximately 415,000 left in the world. The primary reason for their near extinction is poaching, due to the demand for ivory.   

In recent years, at least 20,000 elephants in Africa have been killed for their tusks. Upsettingly, African elephants have been hit the hardest by illegal ivory activities. Their populations declined by 62% between 2002-2011, while also losing 30% of their geographical range. The population of African savanna elephants declined by 30% between 2011 and 2015.

In 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – a global agreement among governments to regulate or ban international trade in species under threat – banned the commercial trade of elephant ivory. While poaching rates definitely dropped, they began to rise again in 2010 because of serious interest in purchasing ivory out of Asia. 

Sadly, elephants are losing their habitats and ancient migratory routes because of expanding human settlements into their habitat, agricultural development, as well as infrastructure construction. Farming and other development activities pose a massive threat to elephant populations.

As more and more elephants come into closer contact with humans, the conflict is increasing. Because of this clashing dynamic, elephants often destroy crops and property, potentially taking some human lives.  

Organizations like WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, Inc.) are working tirelessly to protect elephants, reduce conflicts between humans and elephants, and strengthen anti-poaching initiatives.