Ngilai
Every orphan is unique and Ngilai is known to his carers as a curious and energetic individual who is happiest playing with his human, elephant or buffalo friends. We hope his story might inspire curiosity as to how you can help save elephants like Ngilai.
Ngilai’s rescue story began when he was just three weeks old when he tumbled into a well created for livestock. Here he remained trapped for at least a day until a team of rangers successfully extracted the exhausted, starved and bruised baby. They cared for him overnight before handing him to a team of rescuers from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Luckily for Ngilai, the charity has rescued many other orphans who had suffered the same fate, and it wasn’t long before he was happily suckling on a milk bottle and ensconced in a warm stable. Read more.
If you feel inspired by Ngilai’s story, and want to support his care, you can adopt through the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Adoption Program. Our ability to raise orphaned elephants so that they will grow up as healthy, loved and supported animals is completely reliant on donations and the generosity of others.
Creating Ngilai’s sculpture
The sculpture ‘Ngilai’ has enchanted the public at Spitalfields Market and its easy to see why. Radiating exuberance and curiosity, this little bronze elephant has much in common with the real-life orphaned elephant who inspired it.
Raising awareness for elephants
Elephants once roamed the plains of Africa in their millions but now, the species are officially endangered. Poachers and habitat loss, amongst other threats, has brought African savanna elephants like Ngilai to the brink of extinction, while their forest elephant cousins are listed as critically endangered. There is a very real possibility we might be the last generation to see elephants in the wild.
By sharing Ngilai’s story, we hope to raise awareness and engage people in the plight of elephants, and how our own actions could help save a species.