Giving Back
*Thanks to your support, we make a quarterly donation to an elephant sanctuary.*
Current Sanctuary:
2022 - Q1 Reteti Elephant Sanctuary
Reteti is a Samburu community owned and run sanctuary situated in Northern Kenya, among the country's second largest elephant population.
The sanctuary takes in orphaned and abandoned elephant calves with an aim to release them back into the wild herds adjoining Reteti. This is the restul of a wildely recognized and expanding grassroots movement of community-driven conservation accross Northern Kenya; a movement that is growing new economies, transforming lives and conserving natural resources.
2021 - Q4 Herd Elephants
We are so excited to be fostering an elephant from Herd Elephants! Khanyisa is an orphaned albino elephant calf that had been found trapped in a snare with severe injuries. She was rescued January 2020. From the beginning, she settled in quickly at HERD, with Lammie, the loyal resident companion sheep.
The HERD Orphanage was built in 2019 in response to a growing number of young orphaned elephant calves that neded a place of rehabilitation and more importantly, an existing her that will accept them unconditionally.
The Jabulani Herd is now a family of 16 elephants, of which 11 are orphans and 5 were born to the her over 10 years ago.
2021 - Q3 Elephant Orphanage Project 
Young calves who have become orphans as a result of poaching are defenceless, lack the critical social skills usually taught to them by their mothers, and the psychological trauma they endured by losing their herd can last for years.
Enter: the elephant orphanage project in Zambia, Africa (EOP)
This NGO takes in orphans and focuses on learning social skills and releasing the elephants back to the wild. They provide them with the love and compassion these babies are craving and create a safe haven for them.
The team also integrates with local communities to develop a safe environment for the wild elephants by planting crops, building fences, and educating locals to ensure the newly released animals can co-exist peacefully with their human neighbours.
The EOP operates in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare( IFAW)
The IFAW was founded in 1969 by a group of individuals looking to fight back against the Canadian seal hunting practice. Since then, they have expanded across the globe become the most effective international organization fighting to save animals in crisis
For more information visit :
https://www.ifaw.org/ca-en/projects/elephant-orphanage-project-zambia
2021 - Q2 Mondulkiri Project
Dana was lucky enough to visit and experience Mondulkiri Project in Cambodia. They have three main objectives. The first is to protect the forest from logging. Second, they provide a sanctuary for their rescued elephants. Finally, they want to help the indigenous Bunong People living in the are.
They offer jungle treks where you may have the opportunity to feed and wash an elephant (if the elephants decide they want to spend time with you!). Nothing is forced and they rescue elephants that were previously used for tourism rides or heavy farm work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2021 - Q1: Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Have you had the pleasure of meeting Roho? He is our beautiful little orphan elephant that we adopted a few months ago. He was rescued by the amazing people who run Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.
Sheldrick is one of Africa’s oldest wildlife charities, and is a leading conservation organization. Elephant calves are incredibly close to their mothers for the first few months of life, and continue to require their milk for up to 2 years. When an elephant is orphaned, not only do they lose the protection and nutrition from their mother, but the emotional bond that is broken causes immense grief and anguish to the babies.
Sheldrick Trust developed the first and most successful elephant orphan rehabilitation program in the world, and they understand both the emotional and physical vulnerability of these poor calves, and how to ensure their safety.
In order to continue to save more of Roho’s friends, we have chosen Sheldrick Trust as our Spring donation recipient. We look forward to a new adoptee soon!
For more information, please visit Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
For more about Roho, please visit Roho or follow us on Instagram @the.elephant.designs where we provide monthly updates on his journey!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2020 - Q4 - Thula Thula
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have an elephant standing in your kitchen?
Well, the reason we chose this wonderful place is because we read 2 amazing books: The Elephant Whisperer, by Lawrence Anthony and An Elephant in My Kitchen, by Francois Malby Anthony.
Lawrence had a dream which turned into a reality; creating Thula Thula Reserve so he could save many rogue elephants and expand their herd. Francois, his wife, continues to carry on his legacy after his passing in 2012.
These books exploded our love for elephants and we knew we wanted to help them out in any way we could.
Thula Thula is situated in the heart of Zululand, South Africa and was established in 1998. It is home to elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, hippo, giraffe, birds, and many more.
The name Thula Thula in Zulu means "peace and tranquility".
Thula Thula is dedicated to nature conservation and protection of wildlife.
For more information on this great cause, please visit ThulaThula.com.