On the morning of February 11, 2026, our team at Save the Elephants received an urgent call from Elephant Bedroom Camp (EBC) in Samburu National Reserve.
A tiny female elephant calf – just four months old – had wandered into their camp. Frightened and confused, she had been walking between the tents before camp staff intervened to keep her safe while awaiting further help.
On the way to Elephant Bedroom Camp, STE Research Assistant David Lolchuragi and I began a thorough assessment of the status of all elephants in the reserve, focusing particularly on whether all calves in the families we monitor daily as part of our Long Term Monitoring Programme were accounted for.
When we arrived at Elephant Bedroom Camp, we gave the calf water, ensured she was in the shade, and provided a cooling mud bath. Once we made sure she was relatively stable, we immediately resumed our search to identify the baby’s mother and family in the hope that we could reunite them.
But who was she? And where was her family?
STE Research Assistant, David Lolchuragi, giving water to the calf © George Wittemyer / Save the Elephants
Race to find her family
Just east of Elephant Bedroom Camp, we encountered a subset of the Royals, comprised of the dominant matriarch Anastasia and her family, as well as the two smaller sub-families in the Royals led by Grace Kelly and Catherine. All six calves under one year old were accounted for.
Across the river, on the Buffalo Springs National Reserve side, we noticed that two other sub-units of the Royals – Sylvia’s and Marie’s families – had crossed over. At this stage, we began to suspect that the baby was Sylvia’s calf, as over the past couple of weeks Sylvia had been unwell.
More than a decade ago, Sylvia was shot in the jaw, breaking it. Though it healed, it left lasting complications. During harsh dry seasons – like the one we are currently experiencing in Samburu – she often develops health issues, presumably related to her old injury. She has separated from her family before when unwell, only to rejoin weeks later.
Two weeks ago, Sylvia separated from her family again – this time with her four-month-old daughter.
Last week, the Royals were seen without Sylvia, but her calf was present, spending time with Sylvia’s younger sisters, Adelaide and Markle. Markle had sadly lost her own calf earlier in 2025 and was allomothering Sylvia’s baby.
Adelaide and Sylvia’s calf in Samburu National Reserve © Julia Tinker / Save the Elephants
But as of February 10, Sylvia’s whereabouts remained a mystery, and the status of her calf was unclear.
By midday on February 11, after searching the thick bush in the Ngare Mara swamp and not spotting Sylvia or her four-month-old calf among the elephants there, we were able to confirm that Sylvia was officially missing and that the rescued baby at Elephant Bedroom Camp was almost certainly her daughter.
With no sign of Sylvia, the best course of action was to reunite the calf with her extended family. At the very least, she would have the guidance of her aunts and the companionship of her cousins.
The reunion at GirGir plains
We returned to Elephant Bedroom Camp, gently loaded the calf into our research vehicle, covered her in fresh mud and elephant dung to mask the human scent, and drove to GirGir Plains.
We carefully lowered the calf to the ground near Adelaide and Markle.
At first, she was confused – milling around the vehicle, investigating bushes – unaware she was only 40 metres from her family.
Adelaide noticed unusual activity around our vehicles and approached cautiously.
Then she rumbled.
The calf froze. Looked up. And called back.
Adelaide – and the entire family – erupted in rumbles and trumpets, running toward the calf and surrounding her in an emotional greeting ceremony, the kind elephants use after long separations.
The calf was reunited with her family.
Sylvia’s four month old calf moments after being guided down from our research vehicles. © David Lolchuragi / Save the Elephants
She tried repeatedly to suckle from Adelaide, but Adelaide already had her own four-month-old calf to feed. Instead, Markle, who had lost her calf earlier in 2025 stepped in, allowing the baby to suckle, along with other young females eager to allomother. We hoped Sylvia would resurface or the family would be able to support the baby to give her the best chance of survival.
As the sun set over GirGir Plains, the Royals moved off together, the calf absorbed back into her family.
It felt like the perfect ending.
But the story wasn’t over.
A false alarm
At dawn, our aerial team searched for Sylvia, hoping to find her alive or at least confirm what had happened. After intensive flying over the region where the family had spent the last several weeks, there was no sign of elephant mortality and no elephant matching Sylvia’s condition.
Meanwhile, the ground team set off to find Adelaide’s family. They located them in the river but Sylvia’s calf was nowhere to be seen.
Then they saw her.
Lying motionless in a shallow depression in the riverbed.
The team feared the worst.
And then, suddenly, the calf stood up.
She had simply been sleeping.
Disoriented and stuck in the riverbed, she called out. From the grassy plain above, the family heard her. They manoeuvred back down into the river, with Adelaide leading.
They surrounded her again – rumbling, touching and reassuring.
Together, they climbed the steep embankment into Buffalo Springs National Reserve, across the Ewaso Ngiro River, and disappeared into a small forested area along the river.
Cautiously hopeful
The calf continues to spend most of her time with Markle. She appears tired and sometimes lags behind the group. We are concerned that Markle may not be producing milk, and the calf is rarely being allowed to suckle from Adelaide.
While Sylvia’s fate remains unknown, what we witnessed was extraordinary: second chances and the deep social bonds that define elephant society.
In the face of uncertainty, the Royals showed us once again why elephants are among the most emotionally complex and socially intelligent animals on Earth.
We will continue monitoring the calf closely and searching for Sylvia.