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PHOENIX - from victim to saviour
Four years ago, on the banks of the mighty
Zambezi river, a two-week old baby elephant was found all alone,
desperately suckling on the carcass of her dead mother - yet another
victim of the barbaric poaching epidemic, decimating Zambia's
wildlife. When David Shepherd first visited Zambia in 1962 it
was home to over 250,000 elephants and 3,500 black rhinos. During
the poaching wars of the 1970's and '80s over 90% of its elephants
and all of its rhinos were slaughtered to satisfy the voracious
illegal market for ivory and rhino horn.
 Local
villagers took the terrified baby and tied her up, whilst alerting
the local forest guards. They sent an SOS to the DSWF representative
in Lusaka, who also runs Speciality Emergency Services (SES).
Immediately, an SES ambulance and paramedics were deployed to
rescue the baby who, barely alive, was transported on a precarious
eight hour journey back to the Munda Wanga Wildlife Sanctuary,
on the outskirts of Lusaka.
With emergency advice from elephant expert
Daphne Sheldrick at the famous Kenya elephant orphanage, and treatment
by local vets and SES specialist paramedics, she was put on a
drip and fed with a special milk formula. The baby was close to
death for four days. With constant round the clock care by the
team, including her two keepers, Phiri and Lameck, who even slept
with her and were at her side 24 hours a day, she began to respond.
She was christened Phoenix, and finally, against all the odds,
and after several setbacks, she began to show signs of recovery
although she was still weak and so terrified that she screamed
if one of the keepers even left her side for long enough to make
up her next bottle. DSWF offered to pay for her daily upkeep and
has been doing so ever since.
 Today,
four years on, Phoenix is a rambunctious young elephant and the
undoubted star of Munda Wanga. She has been visited by thousands
of school children and local people who have never had the opportunity
to see a real live elephant. She has brought pleasure to and raised
awareness of the crisis facing wildlife for visitors of all ages
and nationalities.
However, she has also become something of
a menace in her curiosity and endless quest for games, destroying
enclosures and leading her keepers a merry dance. Furthermore,
DSWF only agreed to support her with the understanding that she
would eventually, when ready, be released to live the life of
a wild elephant in the bush. That time has now come.
Phoenix is very much loved and her welfare
in the wild is of paramount importance. Moreover, with the gradually
improving economy, the Zambian Wildlife Authority is now better
funded and managed and is having some considerable success in
combating the ever present threat of poaching. There is now a
genuine desire to conserve and develop its wildlife heritage.
DSWF's desire is to set up a lasting legacy
for Zambia's orphaned wildlife and to try and return some of the
tragic victims of poaching to their wild environment, where they
belong. Using the story of Phoenix, we aim to help to build a
permanent release site in Kafue National Park as a new rehabilitation,
release and research centre specialising in elephants. The centre
could also be the point from which other endangered species are
released back to the bush, as well as become a base for anti-poaching
patrols in the surrounding areas. Phoenix would be the catalyst
for this exciting project - at four years old she is now ready
to start her long walk to freedom.
Every little contribution helps wildlife
and remember 100% of your donation will go in full to the project - thank you!
You can also help by becoming a member
of DSWF. Click here for more information
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