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These orphaned baby elephants have been given a second chance and the pictures will melt your heart

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If the names Kiombo, Nabulu and Larro mean nothing to you, prepare to fall in love, and hard. These baby elephants are just a handful of the adorable inhabitants who call the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, home. I mean, just look at Mukkoka. Be still my beating heart.

 

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Regarded as the most successful elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world, the orphanage also protects rare species including black and white rhino and boasts a number of incredible wildlife initiatives including education and enhanced community awareness, anti-poaching practices, providing veterinary assistance to sick or injured animals and the protection of Kenya’s delicate eco-system. 

But it’s the ‘Orphan Project’ that seriously pulls on the heart strings, allowing baby elephants, rhinos and other wildlife a second chance at life. With their mother’s killed through human actions (including poaching and human-wildlife conflict) as well as natural causes, these (not so) little cuties are rescued, hand reared and eventually rehabilitated back into the wild. And at 247 orphans and counting successfully raised and released, the numbers speak for themselves.

Need more proof that the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage may induce more human happiness than Disney World? Just take a look at these guys…

 

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And the best news? You can make all your wildlife dreams come true by actually visiting the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage for yourself. Travelling on Contiki’s East Africa Safari or Kenyan Highlights trips will give you the chance to visit the likes of Mukkoka and Larro as part of our Contiki Cares program, plus you’ll learn from the team the work that is carried out at the centre and even have the chance to adopt an elephant for yourself. You know that birthday pressie you never know what to buy your Dad? How about the chance to help give a baby elephant or rhino a new chance at life?

Stop dreaming and make sh*t happen!