Looking for a creative holiday gift? How about an elephant? Or a rhino?
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust rescues elephant and rhino orphans in Kenya and rehabilitates them, with the goal of being able to release them back into the wild whenever possible. Many elephants and rhinos are orphaned to illegal poaching, and the illegal ivory trade still claims the lives of far too many adult pachyderms—leaving babies, sometimes mere infants, to fend for themselves. Fending is something an immature elephant simply is not equipped to do—so they invariably, without assistance, will die.
As you would imagine, keeping orphaned elephants and rhinos well-fed and in good health can cost a pretty penny (or dollar or euro or…). You can be a foster parent of an elephant or rhino (pick the one you like best from the list of, sadly, too many candidates) for only $50–or purchase the fostering as a gift or in memory of a loved one. It costs much more than that (care for an orphaned juvenile elephant is about $800 for one month…so that’s $9,600 per year, as long as there are no health issues), but your foster care goes a long way. In addition, the region has been suffering the most severe drought in ages, so mortality rates are higher than usual without the intervention of organizations like this.
Wouldn’t it be fun to wake up Christmas morning, tear the paper off a gift, and find that you are now the proud parent of a pachy?
Foster parents receive:
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A fostering certificate with a profile and photograph of your adopted orphan together with a description of the Orphans’ Project; | |
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An interactive map indicating where your orphan was found and a description of the habitat and the plight of the elephants (or Rhinos) in that particular area; | |
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A monthly summary highlighting events of the previous month together with a direct link to the ‘Keepers Diary’ for your elephant. In the diary you will be able to access the daily calendar entries and the monthly photos. These updates can be printed off to enable you to keep a journal highlighting the progress of your orphan;. | |
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Along with the update you will receive a collectable monthly watercolor by Angela Sheldrick; | |
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From time-to-time, you will receive news of new arrivals and rescues written by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick with accompanying photographs; | |
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And most importantly, as one of our foster parents, you are considered part of the DSWT team and we will be keeping in personal contact with you as an important member of our project. |
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Change by Doing 