LESANJU

Lesanju was brought to the Nairobi nursery by helicopter. She had fallen into an 18 feet deep sandy pit the Samburu tribe dug to get to water. She was found and saved by the Samburu and because there was no way to get the rescue plane to this remote area in time a nearby stationed helicopter was the only solution. When she arrived in the nursery she had been without fluids for 36 hours and to make her ordeal even worse the Samburu had cut large pieces of her ears, a custom used by the tribe to "earmark" their cattle. The ears of an elephant are very important because they help regulate their body temperature.

She immediately was given the obligatory antibiotics as well as the medication to restore her immune system, which had been severely compromised by the extreme stress she had been under ,and to rebuild her intestinal flora. She responded very well to the treatment and started regaining her strength. Her ears healed but she will always be easily recognizable because of the big chunks that are missing.

There was a scary time when she had a short period of threatening pneumonia when she was teething but she came through it and regained strength again soon without any further problems.

Right after the death of Kilgoris she suddenly suffered from swollen lymph glands but did not get sick and the swelling disappeared after a few days.

Lesanju has become the leader of the baby- elephantclub in the nursery, a mini matriarch in the making.