Help rehabilitate 9 elephant babies in India

Hello and greetings from Wildlife Trust of India!

Hope you are doing great.

With this email we are sharing an update for our appeal ‘Help Rehabilitate 9 elephant babies in India’ which we have put up on GlobalGiving. You chose to donate for the project for which we are so grateful. With your generous support, we have been able to provide adequate nutrition to the elephant calves currently rehabilitating at our Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Assam, India. Your contribution makes a world of a difference in giving a second chance at life to these orphaned calves.

You would be glad to know that all the elephant young ones under care at CWRC are doing great! They are all on-course for returning to their life in the wild as free elephants. In this beautiful journey they develop their natural skills, learn to socialize with other calves, go on daily walks into the forest with their animal keepers to prepare for their true home in the wilderness.

One of the key elements in nurturing and rehabilitating an orphaned elephant calf is the elephant milk. The composition of elephant milk is known to vary throughout the lactation period of the mother. There are four phases of lactation – 1) Very early lactation (from birth to colostrum-based milk); 2) Early lactation (up to 12 months); 3) Mid-lactation (12-18 months); and 4) Late lactation (from 18 months to weaning age). Overall, the fat, protein and energy content, along with certain macro nutrients (Calcium and Phosphorous) increase throughout the lactation period; while sugar and carbohydrate concentrations gradually decrease.

For a successful rehabilitation and to keep the calves healthy, it is essential to ensure optimum milk composition as per age. We are doing so for the elephant calves aged between 2 years (the eldest calf) and four months (the youngest one). 

In the absence of ready-made artificial elephant milk formula, human infant milk formula - ‘Lactogen 2’ or freeze dried skimmed milk powder are used as base for feeding rescued elephant calves. The latter is more suited as it takes care of the fat content in the milk, which is further fortified with vegetable fat ingredients like coconut milk powder, and protein sources like crushed Soyabean or chickpea flour.

In the first 24 hours of admission to the centre only electrolyte formula is fed. Once the calf learns to suckle from the feeding bottle, artificial elephant milk is introduced with a much weaker concentration initially. Probiotics dominating lactobacillus is introduced on the second day for better digestion and assimilation.

We introduce food concentrates from the age of 12 months till the age of 36 months. Short grass species to nibble on are tried at the age of 6 months…

The update above was to give you a brief on some of the aspects of elephant diet. We hope that you liked reading it and found it informative. We will soon be back with more updates from CWRC. Till then, take care!

Warm regards and a very happy new year to you!

Team WTI