Reteti in the News

  • Elephant and a buffalo in a grassy landscape with hills and trees in the background.

    Baby Elephant Was All Alone Until He Fell In Love With An Orphaned Buffalo

    THE DODO | 25 SEP 2025

    Every morning, Kimani the elephant and Siilai the buffalo go for a walk together in central Kenya. They wrestle and nap on each other. In fact, they’ve developed a daily routine that ensures they get to spend as much time together as possible

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  • A young elephant walking through a dirt path with lush green trees in the background, with a caption stating "Eventually, they will return home to the wild."

    Baby Elephant And Buffalo Have The Sweetest Friendship

    THE DODO | 1 SEP 2025

    Katie from ‪Reteti‬ shared how these two were orphaned and rescued around the same time — and instantly became BFFs from the moment they met each other!

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  • A smiling woman dressed in traditional cultural attire, sitting on the ground with two large metal milk containers and one smaller container beside her, in front of a black door and stone wall.

    Race to Resilience in action: The unlikely link between goat milk, elephants, and women’s leadership in Africa

    CLIMATE HIGH-LEVEL CHAMPIONS | 28 AUG 2025

    Established in 2021, the Milk to Market Program is a women-led initiative that connects local goat milk producers to a surprising market: orphaned baby elephants.

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  • Dorothy Lowakutuk, Elephant Keeper. sitting outdoors with green leafy trees in the background, speaking during an interview.

    Orphaned elephants at Reteti Sanctuary | Behind-the-scenes on Parenthood

    BBC | 28 AUG 2025

    Parenthood in the animal kingdom is a high-stakes game. This new series reveals the extraordinary ways animal parents help their young survive — from hunting Orcas to bed-making Orangutans to Hippos braving the African night.

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  • Group of elephants walking through green grassy landscape.

    Kenya's Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is saving calves and paving a new path for wildlife conservation

    FOLLOW ALICE | 12 MAY 2025

    Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya rescues orphaned and abandoned baby elephants and rehabilitates them for release back into the wild. It's run by the local Samburu community and you should definitely visit! Here's what you need – and want – to know.

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  • Two young elephants touching trunks in a natural landscape with mountains in the background.

    Orphaned as babies, these elephants returned to the wild amid bittersweet tears

    WASHINGTON POST | 28 JUN 2024

    Kapai and her herd were “rewilded” this month after years in an innovative Kenyan sanctuary, where keepers restored their health and prepared them to live free.

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  • A person walking with elephants in a dry, bushy landscape during sunset.

    Reteti Elephant Sanctuary: tackling the struggle for survival

    SELAMTA MAGAZINE | 3 MARCH 2023

    A look at the valuable work being carried out by Kenya’s first Indigenously owned elephant orphanage

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  • A woman in green uniform crouches down and gently places her hand on the head of a small, young elephant. They are outdoors on a dirt surface with trees and a building in the background during sunlight.

    The Right Way to Befriend an Elephant: A Guide to Wildlife Sanctuaries

    WALL STREET JOURNAL | 18 MAY 2023

    You can book a safari, but visiting a wildlife sanctuary lets you contribute in a real way to the care of these incredible land animalsDescription goes here.

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  • Two indigenous men in traditional attire standing on rocky terrain in a savanna landscape, with hills and trees in the background.

    Welcome to Samburuland

    FINANCIAL TIMES | 11 JANUARY 2023

    In remote northern Kenya, the semi-nomadic Samburu are finding new ways of navigating challenging times.

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  • A keeper in feeding a young elephant with a bottle Reteti Elephant sanctuary, with other elephants and Kenyan landscape in the background.

    Rewilding the orphaned elephants

    BBC WORLD NEWS | 28 DECEMBER 2023

    In a remote corner of Northern Kenya, former Samburu warriors continue to rescue orphaned and abandoned baby elephants, even as drought has put on hold plans to release them back into the wild.

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  • A man wearing colorful bracelets petting a young giraffe on the neck in a natural setting with trees and hills in the background.

    Fupi the orphaned giraffe returns to his whisperer

    THE GUARDIAN | 11 JANUARY 2023

    Lekupania is an animal keeper who saved Fupi after he fell in a ditch. Every morning, Fupi and all the other rehabilitated giraffes come back to check on him….

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  • A group of young elephants sitting and lying on the sandy ground at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary.

    For orphaned elephants, friends may be key to stress relief

    NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC | 15 JULY 2022

    Living with peers may help young elephants thrive, according to new research—a finding that could help elephants orphaned by poaching and drought.

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  • A elephant keeper walking an elephant along a dirt path in a savanna with mountains in the background.

    Social life helps orphaned elephants overcome loss: study

    JAKARTA POST | 17 JULY 2022

    Orphaned elephants manage to overcome the loss of their mothers by living in a herd, highlighting the importance of a social life for the species, according to a study….

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  • A keeper in green clothing feeds a baby elephant with a baby bottle at Reteti Elephant sanctuary, with other elephants and trees in the background.

    Kenyan elephant sanctuary tests goats' milk as healthier feed option

    REUTERS | 27 OCTOBER 2021

    An elephant orphanage in Kenya is testing goat milk as a food for its small herd as a potentially healthier and cheaper form of nutrition than human baby formula - a solution that also puts money back into the pockets of the local community….

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  • A keeper in a uniform feeds an elephant with a bottle of milk at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary.

    Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya Keeps Babies Alive and Healthy by Feeding Them Goat Milk

    INSIDE GUIDE | 29 OCTOBER 2021

    When some orphaned and abandoned elephant calves needed intervention to stay alive, they found help in northern Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary…

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  • Close-up of an elephant's face, showing its textured skin and trunk.

    For Kenya’s orphaned elephants, goats to the rescue

    NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC | 12 AUGUST 2021

    At the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya, orphaned calves used to be fed imported human infant formula. Now many drink a formula made of local goat milk, which is cheaper, more sustainable, and easier to source….

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  • A baby elephant standing on dirt ground outside a wooden structure with a fence in the background.

    World Elephant Day: inside Kenya’s first Indigenously run sanctuary for orphans

    THE GUARDIAN | 12 AUGUST 2021

    In the mountains of northern Kenya, a Samburu community has built a sanctuary for orphaned elephants. Reteti is the first Indigenously owned and run sanctuary, which rescues and raises the orphaned elephants, and has the ultimate goal of reintroducing them to the wild….

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  • A keeper lying on the sand with a rolled-up mat, while a baby elephant gently touches its face with its trunk in a desert-like landscape with scattered trees.

    Warriors Who Once Feared Elephants Now Protect Them

    NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC | 25 MAY 2017

    Trailblazing Samburu communities in northern Kenya have come together to save orphaned elephants….

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