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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Dedicated keepers at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Nairobi Elephant Nursery in Kenya protect baby Shukuru from the cold and rain, and the risk of pneumonia, with a custom-made raincoat.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Even orphaned babies out for their morning walk from the nursery seem to understand the complex structure of elephant society. Here the oldest orphans lie down to invite the younger ones to play on top of them.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Wasin, rescued from the Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust in Samburu, was about two weeks old in this photo.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Orphans playfully vie for a bottle of formula not finished by little Sities, the blanketed baby at the keeper's feet. Every three hours the orphans are fed the formula, which was developed over decades.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Daphne Sheldrick, who founded the Nairobi Elephant Nursery, makes her evening rounds. In 1987 Sheldrick, a pioneer of wild animal rehabilitation, became the first person to rear a newborn orphan African elephant.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
The introduction of orphan elephants to Tsavo National Park is bringing wild herds back to a region devastated by poaching decades ago. Ithumba mountain is near the park's northern border.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Elephants enjoy their midday ablutions near the Voi stockades in Tsavo National Park. Daily mud baths are key to elephant hygiene, offering them effective sun protection while also cleansing their skin of bugs and ticks.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Emily is an orphan that transitioned into the wild and now leads a group of 22 independent orphans. She returned to the Voi stockades with an arrow in her hindquarter; it was removed by the Tsavo area's mobile veterinary unit.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Emily, now 17 years old and the matriarch of her herd, greets head keeper Joseph Sauni a day after he helped remove a poacher's arrow from her side. Elephants released into the wild often come back for help, says Sauni, "or to show off babies."
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Many men were needed to lift this rescued two-year-old into her stall. She died the next day. "It's hard if they've spent much time with their wild family," says Angela Sheldrick, who heads the trust. "They just give up."
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
A keeper indicates the depth to which this spear penetrated the head of 20-month-old Murka. More than a year after her rescue, Murka has left the nursery and is one step closer to rejoining a wild elephant group.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Too young and fragile to be integrated with the other orphans, two-week-old Wasin was swaddled in a blanket, its heft and warmth a poor substitute for her slain mother. Weeks later Wasin abruptly died of unknown causes.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Mzima, a poaching victim, greets schoolchildren visiting Tsavo National Park. "To poachers," says Daphne Sheldrick, "elephants are just money and meat. But that is changing. The word is getting out to a younger generation."
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
An orphan lies down for a post-feeding nap at the Nairobi nursery. Elephants, among the most intelligent creatures on Earth, may have no future without our help.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
What a scared orphan elephant needs more than anything is other elephants. The process of becoming socialized begins as soon as the worst injuries heal.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Older, independent elephants crowd around Meibai, a baby orphan that loves to swim.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Shukuru was found by local herdsmen after she fell into a manhole on the Mzima-Mombasa pipeline in Kenya.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
Elephant orphans form intense bonds with their caregivers and vice versa. "It's not for the wages," explains one veteran keeper. "The more you're with them, the more you satisfy yourself. You just love them."
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