In 2016, Moyo the baby elephant almost drowned after being separated from her herd while crossing a river in Zimbabwe. Fortunately, she was rescued and housed at a sanctuary founded and run by Roxy Dankwerts. The sanctuary is named Wild is Life.
Moyo was one of the tiniest elephants to be housed at the elephant nursery of the sanctuary. She weighed only 56 kilos even though the other calves of her age usually weight 90 kilos. The baby was fragile and delicate when Roxy took her in and she literally had to spend 24/7 with the baby elephant in order to pull her through this difficult phase and to earn her trust and love. And she actually did.
When Moyo was 14 months old, the dodo did an article for her. The article presented her as lovely as ever. Moyo has forgotten that she is a grown-up baby, and that she is really strong. She has taken to follow Roxy wherever she goes. There was even a photo of Moyo, Roxy, and her puppies sitting together.
Now Moyo has really matured, she has even conquered her biggest fear: swimming. Swimming comes naturally to African elephants, but due to her childhood trauma Moyo had forgotten all her instincts and inherent skills. But now she has grown up, and she is quite the ambassador of the nursery.
Initially featured by BBC, Moyo was portrayed as one of the Miracle Orphans. Roxy confessed that letting Moyo off would be very difficult given that they have formed a strong bond between them. Elephant’s most significant threat is ivory trade. Moyo acted as an activist by playing her part in persuading president Xi, who loved meeting her. China banned the legal trade in ivory in late 2017. But it is under counter trade that decimated population.
Let’s all hope for a better tomorrow where such beautiful animals are taken care of with love, where such beautiful animals are not slaughtered. They truly add value to the life in this blue planet.
To see how cute little Moyo is, watch this video. You will be overwhelmed with love!