When Juma Olekutano, a warden at Kalepo Community Conservancy in Samburu County, was informed by community members that an elephant calf had gotten stuck in a shallow well on the morning of February 10, he knew this wouldn’t be just another day at the office. With every second counting, he sprang into action, mobilizing his team of conservancy scouts.

About half an hour later, their vehicle screeched to a halt at the well in Ndonyio Wasin. Some of his teammates jumped out even before the vehicle had fully stopped. A growing crowd of concerned residents had already gathered at the well, anxious and murmuring. Peering in, Juma and the scouts spotted a one-month-old male elephant calf, his small body caked in mud, frantically wriggling in distress. The calf had likely slipped in while trying to drink from the well during the sweltering dry season.

The elephant calf, stranded in the well.

Radio chatter, voices, and the whirring of motorcycles added to the confusion. “He was scared, confused, and exhausted,” Juma recalls. “We had to work quickly, but gently, or we’d risk making things worse.”

Realizing the calf was becoming more agitated under the scorching sun, Juma directed one of the scouts to fetch a rope from their vehicle. They carefully looped it around the calf’s neck, loose enough not to hurt him. Juma called on the residents to assist, guiding a few brave souls into the well to help push the young elephant from below while the rest pulled from above. It was a tense, painstaking effort.

Then, with one final surge, the calf sprang up and out: his ordeal was finally over. A joyous cheer erupted from the crowd.

The elephant calf, finally out of his muddy ordeal.

But there was little time to celebrate. Something was wrong.

Since the incident was first reported until that moment, no one had seen or heard any sign of a nearby elephant herd. That was alarming. African savannah elephants, like this one, are deeply social creatures that rarely stray far from their protective herd, which is usually led by older matriarchs. Adult bulls may wander alone, but calves this young are seldom on their own unless something has gone wrong.

Juma split his team, sending some to comb the surrounding thickets for any trace of the herd, while he stayed behind with the calf. He also asked departing community members to report any sightings of elephants nearby.

As the sun dipped below the horizon and night set in, no elephants had appeared. Not willing to leave him alone, Juma and his team gently loaded the calf into their vehicle and brought him to the conservancy headquarters. A few scouts even volunteered to spend the night back at the well, hoping the calf’s family would return.

Morning came, and still, nothing.

“We knew then,” recounts Juma, “that he had been left behind maybe by accident, maybe not. But he wouldn’t survive out here alone.”

Recognizing the urgency, Juma radioed NRT’s Joint Operations and Communications Centre (JOCC), which quickly relayed the situation to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). After consultations, it was agreed that the calf would be taken to the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, a nearby facility renowned for rehabilitating orphaned elephants and eventually releasing them back into the wild.

A few hours later, teams from KWS and Reteti arrived to safely transport the young calf, now visibly calmer in the hands of his new guardians.

This year, six other elephant calves have been found alone, stranded under unclear circumstances in various NRT member conservancies, and were rescued through swift collaboration between community members and conservancy scouts. Three calves from Biliqo-Bulesa, Ngare Ndare, and Kalepo were translocated to the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, while two others from Nannapa and Pellow were taken to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Nairobi Nursery. In a more fortunate case, a calf discovered trapped in a mud puddle in the Lower Tana Delta Conservancy was rescued by scouts during their routine patrol and successfully reunited with his herd.

Conservancy scouts and wildlife response units, recruited from indigenous communities, are at the heart of these inspiring efforts. They carry out anti-poaching patrols, respond to wildlife emergencies, and work closely with communities to foster peaceful coexistence with wildlife. Supported by cutting-edge technology like NRT’s Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled radio network and EarthRanger software, these incredible men and women are often the first responders when wildlife is in danger. Their vigilance and dedication make stories like this one possible and give endangered species a fighting chance at life.

From Despair to Rescue: Inside the Dramatic Save of a Stranded Elephant Calf