Mumbaikars have been opening their hearts and purses to orphaned wild animals such as elephants, lions, tigers and spotted deer

At the beginning of every month, Kadambari and Rushin Mehta wait for an email from The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) in Kenya. They are all smiles as they go through the blog post and pictures of the ‘child’ they adopted in December — Baby Ngilai, an orphaned elephant calf rescued from a well in the Ngilai area of Kenya in March last year. “He was part of a group of elephants that had fallen into a well. While watering their livestock, the villagers spotted the injured and exhausted calf and alerted the Trust,” says Kadambari, a freelance digital marketing consultant. While the Trust managed to save him, the others with him couldn’t make it. “Baby Ngilai was just three weeks old when we rescued him. He was wounded and we were worried for him,” says Rob Brandford, Executive Director of DSWT.

Mumbai’s pet parents

Closer home, in our very own national park, Mumbaikars have adopted tigers, spotted cats, lions and spotted deer. In 2014, the state forest department floated an adoption scheme, making it possible for individuals and even corporates to adopt animals such as lions, tigers, white tigers, leopards and spotted deer for a maximum period of one year. Siddharth Thakur, a director with Viva Home Finance, became the first in Maharashtra to adopt a 3-year-old male lion named Jespa in 2015. “We wanted to do our bit to help the dwindling lion population in the country,” says Thakur, who used to visit his pet, which is housed in a cage, twice a week. Thakur plans to renew his adoption this year.



Gamdevi residents Kadambari and Rushin Mehta adopted Baby Ngilai who was rescued from a well in Kenya. Pic/Sneha Kharabe

Neelum Shah, a Borivli resident, adopted a spotted deer in 2015 for R20,000. “We would often spot them during our walks to the park, because they are active in the mornings,” says the 44-year-old businesswoman. Yuva Sena president Aditya Thackeray, picked a tiger, Yash, while his brother Tejas adopted two rusty-spotted cats, the worlds smallest wild cats in 2014.

“As of now, five people have adopted wild animals. We’ll be sending owners reminders of renewal soon,” says Jagdish Padvi, an official at SNGP.



Borivli’s Siddharth Thakur has adopted Jespa at SGNP

Finding Ngilai

Back in Kenya, at the elephant shelter, Ngilai is an interactive and playful baby when he is in the mood, even enjoying interacting with visitors.

“We found out from the keeper’s diary that he’s a little character, loved by all. He even has two female elephants fighting over him,” laughs Rushin, a physician. The couple first learnt of DSWT a couple of years ago through a BBC documentary called The Elephant Diaries, an in-depth series presented by Jonathan Scott and Michaela Strachan which follows the emotional roller-coaster lives of a group of orphaned elephants. “Most of the baby elephants have lost their mothers to poachers. The keepers spend the day taking care of them,” says Kadambari. “I started watching documentaries on elephants. The average lifespan of an elephant in the wild is about 50 to 70 years, and they are capable of displaying grief, altruism and compassion,” she says.

‘Want to see Ngilai grow’

It was in December that they stumbled upon the Ngilai’s plight. “When we read about Ngilai, we felt it was time we went ahead. He was the youngest one there, and we want to be part of his growing up years,” Kadambari says.

The couple sent US$200 as their first contribution, and keep contributing as and when they feel like. “We pay on occasions such as our anniversary or a birthday. The minimum contribution is US$ 50,” he says. “I often travel to Kenya for work, and hope to visit Ngilai on my next visit,” says Rushin.