How The Serengeti Foundation helps in Africa
The vast frontier...
BABY OSTRICH RESCUED FROM POACHERS
Kenya... the vast frontier... expansive and beautiful... This is a place of wonder and charm. No place else can you find wild giraffes, rhinos, and of course, the giant African elephant. Humans have forever been interested in the interworkings of the herd. Matriarchs, nurturing and protective.... Males, dominating and solitary.... It is a world most of us wish we could visit at some point in our lives... Yet there is another side... The side that hollers for our attention.
De-snaring and collecting of wire from animal traps...
POACHER'S TREE DEN AND DE-SNARING AN ANIMAL TRAP
Charcoal burning (deforestation), logging, animal traps, snares, and poaching prevail throughout the African national parks. One team in particular leads the cause to patrol and bring law and order to this wild frontier. They are the brave animal warriors at the Sheldrick Foundation .
If you build it, they will come... the watering holes...
REMOTE WATER WELL WE FUNDED
The Serengeti Foundation has provided financial support to dig two water wells in the remote, dry areas of the parks. This is an expensive and difficult task due to the remoteness. Watering holes are a lifeline for all the animals who must travel far distances. Crossing paths with poachers who know their migratory patterns or contact with the local communities who share the watering holes for survival are not always a happy ending. We hear good news from the field however. The animals are using the new, remote watering holes that The Serengeti Foundation funded thus reducing unfortunate incidents with people.
Education at the local level...
OUTDOOR CLASSROOM
Education is a key component for the survival of our planet. Children from local communities are brought in by buses to the outdoor classroom. The importance of their animal neighbors; how this makes their land unique; how they can live, work and survive in partnership with their surroundings; and how the devastation of logging, burning, poaching, and snaring forever wounds this special place... This is what the outdoor classroom is teaching.
Orphaned baby elephants...
THE ORPHAN HERD
Our proudest support goes to the establishment of an orphaned herd of elephants. Orphaned baby elephants lose the will to live when their mothers are killed by poachers or illegal hunters. They won't eat or drink knowing that it only takes a few days to die and they will no longer be alone. The Sheldrick Foundation established an orphan elephant camp. They rescue and recover these lifeless baby elephants. Human surrogates sleep, eat, and play with the them 24 hours a day. These human surrogates stomp their feet on the earth while running to mimic the sound and vibration of elephants running. Teaching them what food to forage in the wild secures their survival. All these steps, over a period of years, lead to the eventual release into the human created orphan herd of beautiful, intelligent, and always accepting grown orphaned elephants who have traveled the same journey. The adult elephants of the herd know the sound of the truck when it is bringing a new member to them. They gather around, gently caressing the new toddler elephant, as one of the elder females takes the baby under her trunk and silently promises to keep watch over her. This is the work of the open hearted. We applaud you.
