The new little rescue inherited the name Meing’ataki, which is Masai language meaning “A fighter”, A fighter in terms of: Attempting doing things without failure and also hardworking.
And he is! From fighting for his life he is now fighting to overcome his fear and panic. He so much wants to trust people and has in the meantime accepted the bottle, which is a big step towards ensuring proper nutrition with the special elephant milk replacer sponsored by the Akademie für Zoo- und Wildtier-Schutz e.V.
The last 24 hours has seen Meing’ataki visibly refill his tanks which ensures that his organs are not in danger of further damage. Inheriting organ damage is a big threat to calves being left alone with no nutrition and fluids, and the younger the calf the faster this damage will occur, as well as the threat of predators of course.
For the moment Meing’ataki probably thinks he has arrived in elephant heaven… every hour a bottle of milk, fresh browse and grass 24/7, friendly elephant siblings and always a loving hand and soft assuring words from a caretaker.
