David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT)

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) was founded in 1977 in memory of David Sheldrick by his widow Dame Daphne Sheldrick DBE MBS who continues to form the principal management team of the Trust with her daughters, Jill and Angela, and her family.

The DWST is a Kenyan conservation charity that works relentlessly to preserve the biodiversity of Kenya’s wildlife and wild places, operating a unique rescue programme for orphaned elephants and rhinos.

When baby elephants from throughout the country are found orphaned without their family (often as a consequence of poaching), the orphans are recovered by the DSWT’s rescue team, supported by the rangers of the Kenya Wildlife Service, and transported by road or air to Nairobi where they are brought to the Orphans Nursery in Nairobi National Park. Meeting the rest of the elephant orphan herd at the Nursery allows the new arrivals to find themselves in a social elephant environment and be looked after by outstandingly dedicated human carers who play the role of their surrogate family.

Once they reach the age of two or three, the young elephants are more autonomous and the second part of their rehabilitation back into the wild begins. They are transported to one of two stockades in Tsavo East National Park where they learn the skills needed to survive in the wild.

Each orphan eventually makes its own decision to leave the stockades, choosing to join a totally wild elephant herd or stay with groups of elephants that have previously been saved and raised by the DSWT.