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.