Mother Elephant Dies after being shot by unknown shooter. Orphaned baby elephant rejoins herd.

On July 7th, staff members from our partners at Zikomo Safari were going to gather firewood in the GMA (Game Management Area) and spotted a wounded Mother Elephant and reported it to the Ranger Teams at Miliyote Gate. The Elephant was wounded in the right leg from a large caliber rifle about 10 days prior.

A team was put together with several other agencies, including Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation (Nsefu.org), Conservation South Luangwa (CSL), Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and Zikomo Safari to try and save the elephant, but unfortunately, the Elephant died of its wounds. The team is now in search of who could have done this.

The Mother Elephant had a young calf which is estimated to be 8-10 months old, who stayed by her side after she died. The baby even put a defense of it's mother when the Nsefu.org team tried to approach to ascertain the situation. Eventually the calf joined the herd, protected my the matriarch of the herd. Nsefu.org will try to keep track of the calf, since it was still nursing, to make sure it's on a path to survival.

By law the DNPW had to oversee the removal of the elephants tusks, to keep them out of the ivory market. They will eventually be taken to DNPW for safe keeping until it can be properly disposed of.

Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation is working hard to protect the wildlife in Africa, but we need your help. You're donations help us prevent tragic situations like this and work towards a balance between people and wildlife.