Tagwa
Tagwa’s story is a reminder of the impact that humans’ ever expanding footprint has on our natural world, and the innocent victims human activities leave behind.
Tagwa’s story began on the slopes of Mount Kenya, a hotspot for human-wildlife conflict caused by habitat loss. She gave community members quite a shock in 2016 when she walked into a farmer’s small holding desperate for company. Worryingly thin, the calf had clearly been without her mother’s milk for days and so time was of the essence to bring her to safety at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust where bottles of freshly-mixed specialist milk awaited her. Strikingly, the tiny baby was covered in dark fuzzy hair making her unique among the Nursery herd. Read more.
If you feel inspired by Tagwa’s story, and want to support her 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 Tagwa’s sculpture
In honour of Tagwa’s story, we are privileged to share her symbolic representation in bronze with you, specially created by acclaimed public artists Gillie and Marc.
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 Tagwa 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 Tagwa’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.