In may of this year I was called back to Sheldricks to
assist with a very sick 2 year elephant “ Manango” which had been raised as a baby orphan in Nairobi
then released back into the wilds in
Tsavo, as is the the norm for these adopted orphans.
Manango was always a smaller elephant stunted in growth but
seemed to be doing well until she was released. As elephants do she returned to
the compound in Tsavo as she was not feeling well.
The elephant was just going downhill and loosing condition and
no conservative treatments were helping. I ran an extensive panel of blood
tests and the most outstanding feature is that she was getting severely anaemic.
There are a hundred causes for anaemia which we tested for. After 7 days of
intensive blood boosting drugs such as B complex vitamins and extra Iron to
mention a few, there was still a decrease in her red blood cell count. This in
my past experience was very rare to see. Usually the blood cell counts improve
dramatically. We tested for blood parasites, auto immune disease, occult blood
and many more. Everything came up negative. The chemistry of the organs was all
normal. I took a blood smear to a human pathologist at the Nairobi hospital.
This woman is an expert in her field and as I quietly sat and she studied the
smear she could only say that this person had anaemia. I told her the blood was
from an elephant and not human. She could not tell the difference. Just one
more reason to see how close these animals are to us. I exhausted every test I could
think of and research but it was to no avail. After 10 days Manango quietly
passed in the night. She was loved and it broke all our hearts. On autopsy I
could not find any abnormal organ. Finally on examining the bone marrow of a
rib bone I noticed that the bone marrow was totally inactive, dry and very
abnormal in appearance.
My best guess is that her immune system had been put into
overdrive when she was exposed to the new environment, when she was released.
It just could not keep up and make enough red blood cells and white cells to
keep her healthy. This must have been an inherited and congenital condition.
We learn more and more about these amazing creatures and all
I can say is that any disease we can get is also manifested in elephants. We
are so alike.
I thank Angela and Daphne for giving me these opportunities to
work on baby elephants which are one thing I did not get to do much in bush situations. Their dedication and passion
for the care of these gentle giants is beyond amazing and we thank them for
this.
Manango had the best care and passed knowing she was loved
and was not in any pain.
