Orphaned elephant calf nursed back to health in Nigerian park

As dawn breaks over Nigeria's Okomu National Park, wildlife caretaker Joshua Aribasoye prepares milk formula for Agbaibor, a months-old orphaned forest elephant. The calf, rescued after wandering alone from the rainforest, requires constant monitoring and feeding.

Forest elephants, smaller and more elusive than their savannah relatives, are critically endangered. Their populations have collapsed due to habitat loss and poaching. Agbaibor was found separated from his herd near a palm oil plantation bordering the park. Despite attempts to reunite him, he was feared to die alone or be attacked, prompting an emergency care effort by park authorities and the African Nature Investors (ANI) group.

“

The baby elephant has to take two liters of this per meal.

The rehabilitation is a costly operation, with ANI spending between $2,900 and $3,600 monthly on Agbaibor's care, including 77 kilograms of milk powder. Conservationists anticipate the process will take another three to five years. They are constructing a new enclosure deeper within the park, designed to gradually expose the calf to wild herds before reintroduction.

"Okomu is critical for conservation in Nigeria," said ANI project manager Peter Abanyam. "In a small ecosystem like this, housing 40 elephants is a huge number, and it needs to be protected at all costs." However, the forest faces intensifying pressure from logging, poaching, farming, and expanding human settlements, which fragment habitats and increase human-wildlife contact. Godstime Christopher, a former timber transporter now working as a ranger with ANI's biomonitoring team, admitted his initial recruitment was for logging but stated that training changed his mentality.

“

Okomu is critical for conservation in Nigeria. In a small ecosystem like this, housing 40 elephants is a huge number, and it needs to be protected at all costs.