Lilaya Elephant Nursery is operated by Game Rangers International near Lusaka, Zambia.
There are many good reasons to visit this baby elephant sanctuary. First, no entrance fee is asked. There is a donation box to help with their work, but you decide on your donation. If you are tired of tourist traps and tourist hordes then you will be pleased. There is no restaurant or souvenier shop. There is just the viewing platform from which you peacefully observe the orphaned elephants feed, bathe and play for an hour and a half. And there is a friendly guide there to explain all about the nursery and each of the elephants. Finally, this is a wonderful and deserving place to support, with your presence, and hopefully your donation.
This sanctuary is the home of baby elephants who have become orphaned as a result of the mother being killed by poachers, or being killled when there is unfortunate interaction with people and their crops or their vilage. Some of the babies arrive very young and often injured. But Lilaya will become their home until they are ready to be released into a protected game park. This process takes several years because an elephant is a baby until about 2 to 3 years. And, being babies, they need to be cared for and also learn about how to be an elephant. That is the job of their keepers who work 12 hour shift rotations and become surrogate mothers to the babies. They even sleep in the roof above where the babies are housed at night. It is the keepers job to nurture the babies but to also create an environment whereby the elephants slowly ease out of that bond and learn to live and forage like wild elephants. For this reason the babies are housed together and are together all the time until they are old and mature enough to either go to a second stage sanctuary or be released into the wild.
Our visit to Lilaya was a wonderful experience and one I would happily repeat. The viewing platform is open from 11.30am until 1pm. As you wait the guide explains about the elephants, their histories and their habits. And then at 11.30am a procession of little elephants crosses the road from where they live and trots into the viewing area. The viewing area for the elephants means bottles of milk formula each, followed by a drink from a barrel and then playtime in the pond. During the viewing the keepers retreat to allow the babies to just be elephants, and the public watches from a raised platform that keeps human interaction to a minimum.
The elephants are funny and entertaining as they topple the water barrel, scratch on the trees, drop sideways into the pond for a refreshing mud bath, or just huddle together like friends do. And of course, they repeatedly approach their keepers who represent their mother at this time. Do visit Lilaya if you visit Zambia. These folks do wonderful work rescuing and releasing the elephants, and they provide a great experience for the public. And do leave a nice donation. It is the fault of humans that the elephant population is declining. Donate a few dollars or Kwacha so that this good work can continue. You can learn more by going to Game Rangers International at www.gamerangersinternational.org/ Please consider donating or adopting a baby elephant.
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