Thursday, May 16, 2013

FOURTH TRIP TO KENYA MAY2013


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.