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The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a small flexible charity, established in memory of David Sheldrick, famous Naturalist and founder Warden of Kenya's giant Tsavo East National Park in which he served from 1948 until 1976.

Since its inception in 1977 the Trust has played an extremely significant and important role in Kenya's conservation effort. Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick along with Six Trustees assisted by an Advisory Committee of practical Naturalists with a lifetime experience of African conditions oversee and direct the operations of the Trust.

Helping save the lives of orphaned Elephants and Rhinos who are ultimately released back into the wild is just some of the many wildlife commitments The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is involved in. The Trust runs seven full time Desnaring teams, two mobile Veterinary Units, and is active in a Community Outreach Program along with working with the communities in an educational capacity locally, and through articles for the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, the Press and Radio Programs. The Trust has also provided advanced training in wildlife management for promising students.

The Trust continues to provide a blueprint for the welfare of animals in captivity and, in the case of elephants, illustrated the sophistication of their communication and their social needs. It has perpetuated vital field knowledge and experience that would otherwise have been lost, and made it available to all national parks in East Africa and many beyond.

The Trust provides continual support for The Kenyan Wildlife Service through its Desnaring efforts within the Tsavo Ecosystem and the Mobile Veterinary Units, but also through support of security fuel, and electrically fencing sensitive National Park boundaries, alleviating human wildlife conflict. The Trust supports indigenous tree nurseries, and water projects in both Tsavo National Park and in the bordering community areas.

Please consider fostering an orphan elephant! From as little as $50, you get:

 - A fostering certificate with a profile and photograph of your adopted orphan together with a description of the Orphans’ Project;


- 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;


- 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;.

- Along with the update you will receive a collectable monthly watercolor by Angela Sheldrick;

- From time-to-time, you will receive news of new arrivals and rescues written by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick with accompanying photographs;

And most importantly, as a foster parent, you are considered part of the DSWT team and are also allowed to visit the Nursery Elephants in the evening at 5.15 p.m. outside the public viewing hour which is between 11 a.m. and 12 noon each day. You can also visit the orphans at their Night Stockades during their Rehabilitation process in Tsavo.

The General Experience:

Plan to arrive at the parking lot by 11am as you only have 1 hour with the elephants. Bring a hat and some water.

You enter and walk past several holding areas for other animals to a desk where you should donate at least $5 before reaching the elephant feeding area - find a standing spot behind the rope and have your cameras ready!

They bring out the elephant orphans by age from the left - the little ones first - and walk them around the area so all the visitors can get a good look. Then at least 2 of the staff will do a short lecture on the facility and the projects. The elephants will play and drink water and make a lot of noise! You can even touch them at times but be careful as they are very playful!

After feeding the elephants the staff and elephants will retire and you can stroll back through the complex to look at the other animals.