Kristin Davis—the ex “Sex and the City” star who plays “Charlotte” on the hit series—has a new baby. Her type of “baby” generally starts at around 250 lbs—Davis’ was rescued by safari leaders who were worried that poachers would kill the young elephant Davis has now adopted, named “Chaimu”.
Chaimu now resides at the The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, well-respected elephant and rhino orphanage of Nairobi, Kenya, where the orphanage had existed for about 30 years now. "These men [keepers at the orphanage] have basically devoted their lives," Kristin Davis says. "The [elephant] keepers are with them 24 hours a day because that's what would happen with their mother," says Davis.
Basically, each orphaned elephant has a “keeper”—and those who “keep” have an enormous task: only one keeper per elephant, each keeper literally spends 24 hours a day with each charge. Each elephant is fed every three hours around the clock—on the same timetable that a mother would normally feed its baby. Keepers keep the babies warm with a blanket—and physically lay down right next their elephant when it’s time to sleep. Orphan elephant Keepers don’t leave--even brief moments away can mean trumpeting sounds of displeasure or alarm from an orphaned elephant. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust performs rotation of keepers, so that no one elephant becomes too attached to any one person.
Week's end marks some extra-personal time: a coconut oil massage for each elephant—given by the baby or orphan’s keeper.
"We can't do exactly what the mother [of an orphan] can do, but we do something close to that," says Lusichi, head of the keepers. Meeting an elephant for the first time requires proper introduction, based on the elephant’s lead: a first-time meeting with an elephant means an offered trunk, to the human, requiring a ‘blow’ into the trunk. One blow into an elephant’s trunk and the animal will remember the human’s scent always.
Elephants apparently really do have a memory. Kristin Davis says the wild animals create a bond so strong that they’ll return for a visit: "If they [previous elephant orphans returned to the wild] have a baby, they'll come back to show the baby to their keepers," Davis says.
"We've released 100 elephants, living 100 percent back in the wild," Kristin Davis says. "Their tremendous capacity for caring is I think perhaps the most amazing thing about them," says Daphne of the Kenya elephant orphanage. "Even at a very, very young age. Their [elephants’] sort of forgiveness, unselfishness — they have all the best attributes of us humans and not very many of the bad."
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has impacted Kristin Davis’ life—the star now playing a big role in efforts to help the foundation: "I think it gave me more respect than I even would have ever dreamt of having for their entire being and how important it is for us to care for their world, as well," Davis says. Anyone can adopt an elephant—for only $50 a year—and those interested can find out more at the attached link to the Oprah web site. The $50 donation includes a fostering certificate including profile and pic of your adopted orphan--and monthly updates about how well your baby is doing at the orphanage.