Beautiful Garden Time with Baby Elephant Orphan, Phabeni & His Carer Joshua

An update on little elephant orphan, Phabeni

You will have enjoyed some more insight into Phabeni’s progress in our recent livestream, as Adine joined the little calf in the nursery at night, with Carer Joshua. Phabeni has had some ups and downs during this beginning stage of his rehabilitation with us, including some loose stools, and changes in his drinking habits.

During the first week, there were normal staff changes and so Phabeni had to get used to meeting new carers. It’s important that he not get overly attached to one carer, and rather bond with a few, so that should that one carer be on leave, others can step in to look after the calf.

Most important for us is getting him through the fragile first two weeks as he settles in, as the adrenaline of what he’s been through drops, and as he starts to stabilise.

We started Phabeni on a basic formula to stabilise him at first and then started introducing more protein and fat but this often upsets the gut and is the reason that we don’t add this from the start. As we increase and change things in his milk formula to ensure he gets all he needs, Phabeni needs time to adapt to the changes. We are working with our experts to manage this the best we can and to get Phabeni used to his formula.

Phabeni has shown a beautiful calmness and confidence already, finding his way in his orphanage home. He has let our human herd get close to him which is important as elephants definitely have a love language of touch. Touch from his human carers provides Phabeni with the sensations and closeness that his mother would have given him through tactile bonding, and it is certainly a key way that elephants communicate. It takes time to gain the trust of an elephant. We are slowly working our way toward greater trust between Phabeni and us.

Dr Rogers stopped by again to administer another drip to Phabeni, following the treatment on the first day of his arrival. This was to top the little elephant up with extra nutrients, while his stools are a bit loose and his milk intake up and down. We are grateful for our human herd rallying around the new orphan immediately and with great dedication and compassion, and we thank you for all your kind words of support and encouragement for Phabeni and our team.