With each and every wildlife rescue hopes are high for a happy ending for the animals in terms of their successful release back into the wild. 

Such was the case when a little elephant, soon to be named Wass*, was loaded aboard a small plane with two tiny ostrich chicks who became Pea and Pod, the girl being Pea and the boy being Pod (1). Brother and sister they were and not only did they take to their new home amongst the David Sheldrick Trust’s (DSWT) (5) orphaned elephants but they looked forward to their forays into wild. 

Sadly little Wass never overcame his distress (he died) over losing his mama and his elephant herd “in the remote Milgis Lugga region” and the trauma of falling into that well. (2) Looking back the elephant calf did seem quite frail as he was transported, along with Pea and Pod keeping an earnest watch, aboard that rescue flight. 

 

 

As for Pea and Pod, the two little ostriches grew and grew, and continued to be comfortably housed in a stable that had once belonged to a rescued baby giraffe. (2) But fate was to intervene one dark day (25 Nov 2016) barely two years after their rescue (14 Oct 2014) with the elephant baby, Wass. (3)

On a regular outing with the orphaned elephants, and their DSWT Keepers, a pride of lions appeared in the forest (on the hunt for a herd of impala); the resulting chaos causing a “scattering of the orphans, including Pea”. (3) 

Miraculously all of the elephants were located and moved quickly out of the area. Sadly, when Pea was discovered she had already been taken down by the lions (killed) displaying the cruel reality of nature. 

 

Yet one must carry on for the others left behind and this is exactly what the elephant keepers of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (5) did and continue to do to this day. Pea may not have come home that day (we will always have fond memories of her) but her brother Pod is still a force to be reckoned with. Carry on, Pod! 

 

 

Support The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust now known as Sheldrick Wildlife Trust  (4)

 

Images: from “Wass and two little friends arrive at the Nursery | Sheldrick Trust” (1)

 

*it is confusing as some sources call the little elephant Waas (3) while others have named him Wass (1)

Sources:  

(1) CC YT Video https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Wass+and+two+little+friends+arrive+at+the+Nursery+Creative+Commons

(2) https://www.thedodo.com/ostriches-baby-elephants-1305977037.html   

(3) “Remembering Pea” https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/news/updates/remembering-pea#:~:text=of%20October%202014-,Two%20little%20ostrich%20chicks%2C%20who%20we%20named%20Pea

%20and%20Pod,the%2014th%20of%20October%202014

(4) https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/donate

(5) https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/ 

(6) https://twitter.com/ESHelephants

 

 

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Elephant Spoken Here twitter @ESHelephants  (6)