Elephants have always fascinated me. Growing up I would watch wildlife documentaries about mammals. Every summer, going to the Singapore zoo was an annual trip that I loved with Passion. Getting to see all the wildlife animals live and in front of me was so exciting!
The Singapore Zoo has an infamous elephant show where the elephants perform that I would enjoy so much. One act they did the elephants would throw a ball into the audience. For the audience, if you caught the ball, you were brought on stage got to interact with the elephants. This was something on my bucket List at an early age, before I knew what a bucket List was!
Then one summer I caught the ball! The excitement and thrill of being on stage with the elephants was so much, I could barely sleep for weeks! Elephants are such amazing mammals to me. I am fascinated by Elephants first because of their huge size and yet, they are are gentle and kind. Many people don’t realize is that elephants form emotional bonds with with one another. They are actually able communicate with emotions and lots of complexity.
It was upsetting for me to learn that in 2011, authorities had seized 13 shipments of elephant tusk shipments, up from the six they seized in 2010. These seizures were mostly in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2010 a shipment was seized in Malaysia that was reported to be worth $1.3 million headed to Cambodia. It horrifies me to think how people can kill such a beautiful creature for self gain.
This is one thing that has made it a Passion in my life and a high priority on my Bucket List to do my part to stop these type of transactions using these beautiful mammals. These creatures are losing more and more of their habitat as the world grows and civilization settles in.
An item on my Bucket List was someday to adopt a baby elephant. I know that may seem wild and way out there, but I have such a Passion and concern for these creatures, I have to do something to help them. One of my dearest friends Isabel was also disheartend about these fascinating animals, Isabel too, has decided she would like to adopt a baby elephant as well. With Isabel’s birthday on the immediate calendar, we contacted Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya. This is an oranganization established in 1977 with the goal to help preserve the wildlife in Kenya. So myself and one of our dearest friends Laurel, and another awesome guy Supun decide that we would adopt an elephant together.
As luck would have it for us, a mutual friend, Rina, was getting married in Kenya. So while we were in Keya to attend Rina’s wedding and festivities, we were fortunate enough to visit the newest member of our family – Lorian. A rescue of four days prior, the video is here for your viewing.
I hope that this video stirs the same Passion in you as did me and that it will encourage you to contact Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya and arrange an adoption of your own! Every family needs a baby elephant and many, many baby elephants need a family!
