The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (Kenya)
The African elephant is in trouble. One elephant is killed for its ivory every fifteen minutes.
Every individual elephant matters – we cannot afford to lose one single individual. Wild Focus Expeditions believes in an organization that understands this only too well.
Founded in 1977, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was founded by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick D.B.E, in honor of her late husband, famous naturalist and founding Warden of Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, David Sheldrick MBE. It has achieved world-wide acclaim through a hugely successful elephant and rhino rescue and rehabilitation program. The Orphans’ Project exists to offer hope for the future of Kenya’s threatened elephant and rhino populations as they struggle against the threat of poaching for their ivory and horn, as well as the loss of habitat due to human population pressures, conflict, and deforestation.
To date, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has successfully rescued and hand-raised over 200 infant elephants through its Orphans’ Project. It is through this life-saving program, that the DSWT has accomplished one of its long term conservation priorities by effectively reintegrating orphans back into the wild herds of Tsavo Conservation Area. These wild herds can claim many healthy wild-born calves from former orphaned elephants that were successfully raised in the care of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
On behalf of every trip participant who travels to Kenya with us, Wild Focus Expeditions adopts one of these orphaned elephant calves. It costs the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust over $900 USD per month to care for and feed just one orphaned calf.
During our first night in Nairobi, each of our guests is presented with a certificate of adoption of a baby elephant through the DSWT’s Orphans’ Project Foster Program. We spend one full day in Nairobi before the start of our safari so that we can pay a visit to the DSWT. During a scheduled private group visit, we have the opportunity to spend time with our fostered baby elephants and the Keepers. A DSWT staff member accompanies us and explains the individual rescue stories of each orphan. We will have time with the orphans and will be able to photograph them during this time. We provide a little support to the DSWT Center, but the elephant calves give us so much more in return.
Most of our trip participants adopt additional elephants while we are there. They immediately see what the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is doing to preserve and protect the future of Africa’s elephants.
Wild Focus Expeditions provides specialized, small group photography tours. Our photography expeditions are designed to get participants into distinctive, engaging locations around the world at the optimum times for photography. Our photo tours are created by our team of photographers who want to experience and photograph the world's top wildlife, nature and traditional cultures locations.