Long'uro: The trunkless elephant eaten by hyenas but refusing to give up

You can see the happiness in his eyes and his endearing shuffle as he runs towards his keepers. Once he hears his name, Long'uro comes rushing, following the elephant keepers in their green ranger clothes, carrying white bottles filled with two litres of milk.

At Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, it's feeding time for the baby elephants.

They come in groups, one by one, joyful at hearing their names called and responding to the singing of the rangers, all rushing for the bottles to be placed in their mouths. Once the bottle is in, they gurgle greedily, stretching their trunks and running away with the bottles still in their mouths while their keepers follow behind.

But for Long'uro, he can't do much.

The bottle has to be held steady in his mouth until he's finished drinking, even though he tries to stretch his short trunk remnant. He tries his best, but still needs his keepers to feed him. Afterwards, he plays with them and later joins the rest at a water pool, standing behind the others as they splash water on their bodies.

This may seem strange, but this is the five-year-old elephant's way of survival – pure resilience. Unable to use a trunk like other elephants, he trumps the water with his legs, trying to splash it on his body. The water does not reach his higher, giant frame, but he persists in trying.

Five years ago, Long'uro – whose name means ‘cut’ in Samburu – was trapped in a well, separated from his herd. In a brutal attack by hyenas, his trunk was torn off and eaten, leaving him to face a world that seemed impossible to navigate without this most essential appendage.

The story of Long'uro's rescue began at Loi Saba Conservancy, where the young calf had fallen into a well. For seven agonising days, he remained trapped while his mother waited nearby. Eventually, losing hope, she disappeared, leaving her baby behind.

Local community members discovered the injured calf and immediately contacted the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary.

"They told us that the baby could be saved," recalls Naomi Chelongor, an assistant elephant keeper at Reteti. "So they brought Long'uro here. There was a lot of skepticism from the veterinarians. They said that if we tried to let the baby survive, he would be the first one to die because he doesn't know how to eat, he doesn't know how to survive."

The veterinary team's initial treatment was crucial but challenging. They trimmed the hanging tissue from the wounded trunk, sealed the blood vessels, administered painkillers, and began the delicate process of cleaning the wound every two days. Long'uro required a very special formula – enriched for both growth and healing – to give him the best chance of survival.

"We have seen human beings without arms who can still do many things using their feet and other parts of their body," Chelongor explains, drawing parallels to Long'uro's situation. "We decided to give him a second chance. Let's see how it goes."

Today, Long'uro's determination and adaptability continue to amaze his caregivers. Despite lacking the most important tool in an elephant's arsenal, he has developed remarkable alternative strategies for survival. He can kneel down to graze on plants and grasses at ground level. When food is out of reach, he positions himself close to trees and manages to browse on lower vegetation.

Perhaps most remarkably, he has learned to use his feet to collect food and can bend down to sip water directly from troughs using his mouth. Recently, keepers have observed him learning to suck small amounts of water using what remains of his trunk and transferring it to his mouth – a significant development in his adaptation.

"Long’uro is just learning many things every time," says Chelongor. "So definitely Long'uro will survive."

What makes Long'uro's story even more extraordinary is the support he receives from his fellow elephants. The other orphans at Reteti seem to understand that Long'uro has special needs and have become his willing assistants.

"Other elephants understand that Long'uro is a disabled young bull, and some of them are really good friends to him," Chelongor observes. "Sometimes, in elephants, you can see them bullying or fighting with others, but some of them are really friendly to Long'uro. They have their own favourite friends within the group."

These elephant companions demonstrate remarkable empathy, breaking down branches so Long'uro can pick up the pieces from the ground. When the herd is drinking, Long'uro positions himself behind the others, catching the drops of water that fall as they wash themselves – a touching example of inter-species cooperation and understanding.

Long'uro's story is inseparable from the remarkable work being done at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, which began operations in 2016. This community-driven conservation project has revolutionised elephant rescue and rehabilitation in northern Kenya, significantly reducing mortality rates among orphaned elephants through dedicated care and innovative approaches.

The sanctuary rescues baby elephants for various reasons: abandonment by mothers, separation during droughts, illness that prevents calves from keeping up with migrating herds, or tragic incidents like Long'uro's. Each animal is rehabilitated on the same land where they will eventually be released, helping them understand that they must ultimately return to the wild.

"We rehabilitate them just here in the same land for them to understand that they should go back into the wild," explains Chelongor. "And when they are about seven years old for elephants, that's when we return them back into the wild for their second chance of surviving."

The question that naturally arises is whether Long'uro will ever be able to survive in the wild. His keepers remain optimistic, pointing to documented cases of adult elephants surviving without trunks. The key lies in the support system that elephants naturally provide for disabled members of their herd.

"We have seen other big elephants with no trunk that can still survive," Chelongor notes. "Most of the time, they go behind other elephants. When other elephants are drawing water for their bodies, they can get some drops."

Long'uro's familiarity with the area where he was found works in his favour. Reteti sits within traditional elephant corridors used during seasonal migrations, making it likely that Long'uro could encounter members of his original family. Elephants have exceptional memories and strong family bonds – traits that could prove crucial to Long'uro's successful reintegration.

"Elephants are very, very clever," says Chelongor. "If they can recognise their childhood friends, they can definitely recognise their families."