Orphaned elephant calf receives intensive care in Nigeria

A young forest elephant calf, orphaned and found wandering alone near a palm oil plantation, is receiving intensive care at Nigeria's Okomu National Park. The calf, named Agbaibor after the ranger who helped rescue him, was separated from its herd late last year. Conservationists and park authorities launched an emergency effort to save the animal, flying in specialists from Zambia and assigning caretakers for round-the-clock feeding and monitoring.

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

Joshua Aribasoye, one of the caretakers, explained the calf requires two liters of milk formula per meal. Forest elephants, smaller and more elusive than their savannah relatives, are critically endangered, with their populations severely reduced by habitat loss and poaching. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates only about 200 forest elephants remain in Nigeria, with roughly 40 inhabiting the Okomu National Park area.

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Agbaibor -- named after the ranger who helped rescue him -- was found near a palm oil plantation bordering the protected forest late last year after being separated from the herd.

African Nature Investors (ANI), a conservation group involved in the calf's care, spends an estimated four to five million naira (about $2,900-$3,600) monthly on Agbaibor's needs, including milk powder, oats, and supplements. The rehabilitation process is expected to take another three to five years. A new enclosure is being built deeper within the park, designed to gradually expose the calf to wild herds before eventual reintroduction.

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Fearing it would die alone or be attacked, park authorities and conservation group African Nature Investors (ANI) launched an emergency effort to nurse the animal, flying in elephant rehabilitation specialists from Zambia and assigning caretakers to raise him.

"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 increasing pressure from logging, poaching, farming, and human settlements, which fragment elephant corridors and heighten human-wildlife conflict. Godstime Christopher, a former timber transporter now working as a ranger with ANI's biomonitoring team, highlighted the shift in mentality towards conservation after joining the organization.

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ANI spends between four and five million naira (about $2,900-$3,600) a month on his care, including 77 kilograms of milk powder, alongside oats and nutritional supplements.