Rescue and Rehabilitation

One of the significant components of IFAW’s efforts on behalf of elephants is our work with the rescue, rehabilitation, and re-release of orphans. Currently, there are two elephant rehabilitation centers that we support, one in Kenya for African elephants, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT), and one in India for Asian elephants, the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC). Further information on both of these centers is in the sub-sections that follow.

Story of survival

In February 2008, IFAW and sister organization, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) announced that two elephant calves would be successfully returned to the wild in Manas National Park.

The animals, which were hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga National Park, were translocated by truck, 450 kilometers to Manas National Park. Manas National Park is a World Heritage site in northeast India which has seen wildlife populations decline dramatically in recent decades. IFAW and WTI have been working together to restore the Park’s ecosystem, including animal populations, for several years.

This marked only the second time that the endangered Asian elephant had been rehabilitated and released to the wild in India. Last February, IFAW and WTI released six elephants into Manas National Park. Sri Lanka and Kenya are the only other countries to have successfully released hand-raised elephants into the wild.

The two elephants, approximately three-years old, were rehabilitated in Kaziranga National Park. One young calf was rescued from a ditch on a tea estate and the other was rescued after it got stuck in mud and was abandoned by its herd. Both the elephants and the relocated rhino will wear radio collars for effective post-release monitoring.

For more detailed information on IFAW’s Emergency Relief work, please visit our Emergency Relief section.

Blood samples are taken in preparation for the elephants relocation and release back into the wild.

An elephant is led into a transport truck at the CWRC in preparation for relocation and release back into the wild.