New life in the desert: Meet Fiori!

The first new born in the Ugab River that lives!

We are absolutely thrilled! On Thursday, 13th January 2022, the young female Carissa gave birth to a female calf. Carissa is the daughter of The Duchess and this is her very first calf! The first week of the calf has been very adventurous and its strength was put to the test: On the first day of life she had to walk over 40km to keep up with the herd. On day 6 the desert received its first rain of the year and the youngster tasted water for the first time in its life: It plunged face first into the pools of water, splashed around and discovered an elephant’s number one source of joy: Water!

Fiori’s first few days of life were very adventurous! Image by Christin Winter

Meet Fiori - the desert flower!

We decided to name the little baby girl Fiori, after one of our most gracious donors. Fiori is Italian and means “covered in flowers”. We find this very suitable as her birth marked the beginning of the rainy season which means the desert will soon be covered in flowers!

Fiori is the first new born that lives since 2014. The Ugab herds have since experienced immense trauma. Several elephants were shot, the herds wer chased and the drought meant that pregnant females didn’t receive the required nutrients. Several calf were born and died shortly after birth. We are so thrilled and relieved to see this baby elephant being strong and healthy.

Fiori, we wish you all the joy and health in the world!

Three generations in one image - grandmother Duchess, mother Carissa and baby Fiori.

Text and images by Christin Winter.