Sweetpea's Story

The Flowers are one of Lewa’s most frequently encountered elephant families.  In addition to being “residents” who traverse Lewa on a regular basis, the Flowers spend a great deal of time in the swamp, which lies in the heart of the conservancy and is often visited by tourists.

Bougainvillea crawling under the wire

The Flower family is very large and often splits into two groups.  One faction is headed by Agapantha, with Daisy and Pansy always in tow. The other is led by Tulip and Bougainvillea.  Bougainvillea is a very clever girl who has learned to get onto her knees and climb under the electric wire designed to keep elephant out of exclusion zones – areas in which elephant and giraffe are not permitted so that trees can regenerate.  To make matters worse, now that she has mastered her technique, Bougainvillea is teaching other members of the family how to break in for a late night snack.

Sweetpea shortly after his injury

In the spring of 2003, Bougainvillea gave birth to a male calf.  He was an adorable, playful little boy who quickly was dubbed Sweetpea.  Not a very masculine name, but it seemed to fit his personality.  Late one afternoon in June, I found Sweetpea with a terrible injury.  A large piece at the end of his trunk had been severed and left dangling.  The injury did not appear to have been caused by a lion or hyena; it rather looked as though his trunk probably had been bitten while drinking from the dam by the one and only crocodile living on Lewa.

It was late afternoon when I first saw the injured calf, so there was little anyone could do.  Although it appeared as though the end of the trunk would need to be amputated, it was too late to call in a vet from Nairobi.  So, I decided to check on him the following morning.  Believe it or not, despite their size, elephant have an amazing ability to disappear.  I searched and searched for hours, but Sweetpea and his family seemed to have vanished.

Two years later, Sweetpea is doing fine!

When I finally found him, again, several days later, I was astonished.  Despite his injury, Sweetpea seemed to be getting along just fine! Clearly he could eat and drink with his injured trunk, and he was young enough that most of his nourishment still came from nursing.  So, the decision was made to monitor his progress rather than risk traumatizing both him and his mother with “field surgery.”

Sweetpea playing with friends in 2011

I have observed Sweetpea over the years, and, to my amazement, he has learned to use his trunk very effectively despite the fact that the useless piece still dangles from the end.  He is now nine years old  and will soon be pushed out of the family and forced to fend for himself.  But, I have watched Bougainvillea’s son grow into a strapping young bull, and I have no doubt that he will do just fine.

Meet the "Cheese" Family

Allow me to introduce my elephant friends – the Cheese family.  This is the one family that I would venture to say “knows” me.”  There is no scientific evidence to prove this statement; it is just a feeling that I have, a sense when I am around them that they recognize the sound of my car and the sound of my voice – yes, I talk to them whenever possible.

The Cheese family at the salt lick in my back yard

The Cheese family is one Lewa’s “resident” families which means that they spend the majority of their time within the conservancy’s boundaries.  They do venture up into the Ngare Ndare forest – particularly during times of drought – but most of their days are spent here on Lewa.  Despite this fact, the Cheeses are not often seen by tourists because the family is rarely found in the areas frequented by tourist vehicles.  Instead, they tend to “hang out” on the southwestern side of Lewa which, coincidentally, is where my house is located.  Rarely do I leave home without running into the Cheeses; they are also frequent visitors to the salt lick in my back yard.

Camembert and her calf, Havarti

The Cheeses are a small family unit headed by matriarch, Camembert.   When I first met her, Camembert had a young male calf that we named Brie – seemed like the obvious choice.   He is now a handsome young bull that has been pushed out on his own, although he still visits the family from time to time.  He is very easily identified because the top of his left ear is broken.  Camembert has since had two more calves – Mozzarella, a female born in 2005, and another young female named Havarti, born in March of 2009. 

The other big female in the family is Jarlsberg.  She, too, has had calves in 2005 and 2009 – a young male named Feta and another male called Parmesan.

Brie as a young bull -- notice the top of his left ear

Brie, when we first met him in 2004

Because the Cheeses stay primarily on Lewa, they are a very calm and contented family.  They know that they need not fear cars or the sound of human voices.  Many of the elephant that arrive from outside Lewa have endured human/elephant conflicts, at best, or, at worst, have experienced the horror of being shot at by poachers. Thus, they are very skittish at first, and it takes some time before they are able to relax in the secure envoironment that Lewa provides.

Madagascar from the Island family

We had an amazing sighting of just such a family on Tuesday. Known as the Islands, this family has only been seen on one other occasion back in 2009!  I found it hard to believe that it could really be them, but photos confirmed our sighting.  They were, indeed, very nervous and ran at the sound of the vehicle.  This is an unusual family in that two of the females have enormous, straight tusks and two females are tuskless. With such big ivory, these two females are in great danger of being poached, and I have to wonder if they have come back to Lewa to seek a safe haven.

Celery and Carrot

Female elephant normally have a calf every three to four years, and they are extremely devoted and protective mothers.  But, not all of them are successful mothers -- such was the case with Celery. 

Although I have known Celery for over a decade, I had never seen her with a calf  -- that is until March of 2011 when we found her nursing a beautiful baby girl!   Sadly, on April 15, we recorded that Celery’s calf was missing -- she had only survived for one month.  

Celery with her baby girl just days before she died

However, another tragic event has given Celery the chance to become a doting mother, after all.  This past December, the Vegetable family was devastated by the death of matriarch, Garbanza.   She left behind two young male calves – 8-year-old Asparagus and Cauliflower, born in September of 2009; fortunately, he was old enough to survive without his mother’s milk. 

When I saw the family the following month, Celery had clearly “adopted” the two boys, and it was obvious that they had become very attached to her, as well – especially young Cauliflower who spends much of his time by Celery’s side.  To an outside observer, there would be no doubt that Celery was the mother of these two boys. 

Celery with Cauliflower and Asparagus

Asparagus is now approaching the age when he will be forced to leave the family and go out on his own.  But, I feel certain that three-year-old Cauliflower will continue to receive from Celery all of the love and attention that he will need over the next few years to grow into a proper young bull.

Another member of the Vegetable family, Carrot, also has not had success as a mother.  She has given birth to calves in 2003, 2005, and 2008, but none of them have survived.  This has to have been devastating for her as elephant mothers love their babies in much the same way that we do.  They will often stay with a sick or injured calf – even if the family has to move on – and grieving female elephant have been seen carrying their dead baby on their tusks.

Carrot nursing healthy baby Zucchini

In the fall of 2011, Carrot, again, gave birth.  But, this time her baby has survived!  Now eleven months old, young Zucchini is a healthy baby whose future is bright.

Next time, meet the Cheeses – my best elephant friends.

Meet the "Vegetable" Family

One of the families most frequently seen here on Lewa is the “Vegetable” family.  I have logged many, many hours with these elephant, and they have taught me a great deal about elephant behavior.

Garbanza when we first met many years ago

For over a decade, the matriarch of the family was Garbanza.  When I first encountered her, she was already an impressive female sporting a rather large set of tusks.  We did not strike up an immediate friendship!  In fact, it was Garbanza who taught me that not all Lewa elephant are “chilled” or approachable.  However, over the years, she became far more trusting and, to her credit, quite tolerant of both vehicles and my frequent presence.

Garbanza shortly after breaking her right tusk 

During the drought of 2007, Garbanza broke her right tusk.  This is not an uncommon occurrence during droughts because as grass and other vegetation become scarce, elephant use their tusks both to strip bark off of trees and to dig up roots and tubers.  As you can see in this photograph, the tusk was broken quite high up, and, as tusks are nothing more than large teeth, there is a good chance that the nerve was exposed which would have caused her a great deal of pain.

The family consisted of 4 females – Garbanza, Celery, Artichoke and Carrot along with their offspring -- and was most often seen on the southwestern side of Lewa. From time to time, the family would head up into the Ngare Ndare forest, located on Lewa’s southern boundary, but, for the most part, they roamed secure within the confines of Lewa.

But, in December of 2011, disaster struck.  When I returned from Christmas holiday in the States, I quickly noticed that Garbanza was missing.  At first, I was hopeful that the family had split up for a bit which will sometimes happen when food is scarce.   But, then I saw her two calves – a clear indication that she was dead.  Elephant are devoted and fiercely protective mothers; so, if a female is absent and her calves are gone as well, it is a fairly safe assumption that she has done a walk about and will return to the family in the near future.  However, if a female is missing and her calves are with the family, it is almost certain that she is dead.

 I do not know how Garbanza died. Hopefully, she was not gunned down by a poacher’s bullet – or, worse yet, forced to endure a slow and agonizing death from a bullet wound gone septic.  She was not a young elephant, so it is possible that she died of natural causes – we will never know.

Loss of a matriarch is devastating for an elephant family under any circumstances.  If it is due to poaching, the entire family is further traumatized in much the same way that humans would be if a family member was gunned down in front of them.  Regardless of the cause, the death of a matriarch is the loss of the decision maker and the individual who guides the family to water, food and safety – in good times and in bad.

Artichoke, seen here with her calf, Pumpkin, has
taken over as head of the family

Fortunately for the Vegetable family, Artichoke has stepped up and assumed the role of matriarch.  Thus far, she has successfully held the family together – which does not always happen – and appears to be a competent leader. 

Next time, Celery comes to the rescue in an interesting twist of fate, and Carrot is a mother, at last.