How ‘Nellie’ got back her truncated trunk
Baby elephant saved in miracle op after snare horror – and now you can barely see the join
FOR baby elephant Enkesha, it was a devastating injury that could have ended her short life.
Poor Enkesha’s trunk was almost completely severed after she was caught in a poacher’s snare in Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve.
And vets knew they had to act fast if they were to save the one-year-old elephant.
They performed a three-hour emergency operation to reconstruct Enkesha’s damaged trunk and stop any dangerous infection setting in. That was just two months ago, and the operation was a success. The deep gouge that could have killed Enkesha is now barely visible as she rolls around happily in the mud.
Rob Brandford, of David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Elephant Orphanage, where the elephant is being cared for, said: ‘She has surprised everyone. Her condition was extremely serious.’
And DSWT chief executive Angela Sheldrick added: ‘Enkesha was spotted with a snare tightly wound around her trunk. She was in severe pain.
‘The mobile vet unit darted the baby and removed the snare using wire cutters. They found her trunk had nearly been severed with just a small portion attached.
‘The operation took place the next day, with three Kenya Wildlife Service vets working to reconstruct her trunk. It was the first operation of its kind. She can now pick up twigs, lift her trunk and attempts to throw dust over herself.’
Charlie Mayhew of Tusk, the conservation charity supported by Prince William, said: ‘This story contrasts the horror of the all too frequent indiscriminate snaring by poachers in Africa.’
Now that’s something to trumpet about, Enkesha.