Following the devastating flood yesterday evening which destroyed both
Save the Elephants (STE) research facility and Elephant Watch Safari
Camp located in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya, the relief, funding
and reconstruction effort is firmly under way.
Incredibly, no staff were hurt or injured, and the majority of
wildlife, including the elephant population, was also not harmed by
the deluge.
Staff today salvaged what remained of computers, key research data and
facilities, trawling through the mud which engulfed their tents after
waters subsided yesterday afternoon.
However, most of the facility, equipment and data has been lost, and a
major funding effort is now under way.
“We would like to extend our gratitude to our donors and partners who
have already pledged funds for the rebuilding of the facility. They
recognise that the elephant research projects we are conducting are
too important to halt due to this calamity,” says Operations Manager
Lucy King.
More funds and supplies are being sought as the latest long-term
damage assessment runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars, and
storm clouds loom on the horizon, threatening further flooding.
So far, immediate food and shelter have been delivered to staff by STE
Chairman Prof. Fritz Vollrath, the British Army, as well as STE
founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton. Nairobi-based staff who traveled to
Samburu for the relief effort remain at the reserve.
Please note that news updates on the flooding will continue to be posted on the
STE website, http://www.savetheelephants.org. To donate to STE’s rebuilding effort, please go to
http://www.justgiving.com/ste-research-camp-floods
For all media inquiries please contact:
Lucy King: +254 (0)720 275561
