Every once in a while, we find a friend in the unlikely of places— and that’s exactly what happened to an adorable, baby elephant named Ubuntu.
Ubuntu, whom rescue staff later nicknamed “Ellie,” is a baby elephant that had been rejected by his herd.
When he was discovered, staff at the Fundimvela Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage (FTTRO) tried to help reunite him with his family many times, but alas, they ultimately had no luck.
During this time, they also realized that Ellie was extremely sick.
Karen Trendler, a rehabilitation and crisis response expert at FTTRO, explains, “We realized he actually had a huge umbilical hernia and abscess, which means the entire umbilical, or belly button, area was open and was very infected.”
“And,” she continues, “That’s a direct connection into the blood supply. In 99% of cases, an umbilical abscess of that nature is fatal.”
But the staff at FTTRO didn’t give up on little Ellie, however. They even went so far as to make him his very own homemade formula after he developed an allergy to every other kind they could get their hands on.
Despite the fact that Ellie was healing physically, he suffered psychologically from his illness and being rejected from his herd.
Wildlife trusts (via the Daily Mail), explain, “To be rejected at birth causes an elephant extreme psychological distress. Elephants find it extremely important to be part of a family group and require intimacy, company, and comfort to be stable.”
The Daily Mail goes on to explain that these types of traumatic experiences can even cause physical signs in rejected elephant calves. One example is diarrhea, which can be deadly to a “fragile” newborn calf.
Karen Trendler elaborates, saying, “The calf elephant was here. He was particularly weak, particularly ill; he wasn’t so much interested in doing anything. He was very lethargic, very disinterested.”
That all changed, however, when FTTRO staff introduced Ellie to an unlikely pal— a retired service pup named Duma!
Karen Trendler says, “We introduced Duma and the elephant at the sand pile and it immediately cleared the elephant up, and the two of them then became the interaction.”
“It also had a massive impact on the elephant in that he suddenly started getting a little bit of interest in life again!”
The two grew incredibly close. In fact, staff had a hard time keeping Duma away from the little elephant that he had grown so fond of.
Sadly, however, just as things were looking up, Ellie’s health rapidly declined, and unfortunately, Duma’s love and friendship simply were not enough to weather the little elephant through the storm.
After a 5-month battle for his health, the little elephant’s condition worsened rapidly, and the baby began showing signs of septic shock.
Karen Trendler, on behalf of the Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage, writes, “It is with deep sadness and so many tears that we bring the devastating news that Ellie passed away gently, shortly before midnight on Tuesday evening after a very rapid deterioration […]
“Ellie has been returned to the wild,” she continues. “Buried in a special place at Thula where his spirit can roam with the herd.”
Although Ellie’s time here was not the longest, he was lucky enough to have found the FTTRO and Duma, both who kept him happy, here, and loved for much longer than he would have been otherwise.
Rest in peace, Ellie.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
