Dame Daphne Marjorie Sheldrick, (née Jenkins; 4 June 1934 – 12 April 2018) was a Kenyan of British descent, author, conservationist and expert in

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

, particularly the raising and reintegrating of orphaned elephants into the wild for over 30 years."About Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick..." ic Keepers Profiles, Orphans Project, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, se

accessed 9 October 2014. She was the founder of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Biography

Early life

Daphne Jenkins was born in Kenya in 1934 to British parents, at a time when Kenya was still a British colony. Her parents, Bryan Jenkins and Marjorie Webb Jenkins, operated a large farm and timber operation in

Gilgil Gilgil, Kenya, is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. It is to the west of the Gilgil River, which flows south to feed Lake Naivasha. Gilgil has a population ...

. At the outbreak of World War II, her father, a naturalist, was sent to a game reserve where he was ordered to kill zebra and wildebeest to feed British and Kenyan troops. In 1940, at age 6, she went to visit her father's camp and later remember thinking, "This is how I would like to live, out here among the animals under the sky." She was educated at

Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitant ...

Primary School and Kenya High School where she matriculated in 1950 with honours and the possibility of a

bursary A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awa ...

to attend university; however, she opted for marriage.

Adult years

In 1953, she married Bill Woodley, who battled wildlife poaching in Kenya's game reserves. They ultimately divorced, and on 20 October 1960 she married Woodley's boss,

David Sheldrick Major David Leslie William Sheldrick, MBE (23 November 191913 June 1977) was a Kenyan farmer and park warden, in memory of whom the eponymous David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) was created by his widow, Daphne (later Dame Daphne Sheldrick ...

. From 1955-76, she was co-warden of

Tsavo National Park Tsavo National Park may refer to: * Tsavo East National Park, a national park in Kenya on the eastern side of the A109 road * Tsavo West National Park Tsavo West National Park is located in the Coast Province of Kenya. The park covers an area ...

with her husband. The couple began caring for all different kinds of orphaned animals, always with a point of reintegrating them into the wild. Many of these young animals were elephants, and Sheldrick began hand-feeding them a milk formula she developed herself. During this time, Sheldrick raised and rehabilitated back into the wild community orphans of misfortune from many different wild species, including elephants, black rhinos, buffalo, zebras, elands, kudus, impalas, duikers, reedbuck, dikdiks, warthogs, civets, mongooses and birds. Sheldrick was a recognised authority on the rearing of wild creatures and was the first person to perfect the milk formula and necessary husbandry for both infant milk-dependent elephants and rhinos. When she first made attempts to keep the orphaned baby elephants alive with traditional milk sources, they remained malnourished and faded into death. It was only after trying every combination she could find that she hit on one milk formula from Europe containing coconut oil that was found to be the nearest substitute for the fat in elephant milk. Daphne Sheldrick died on 12 April 2018 at the age of 83 after a battle with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

After 17 years of marriage, David Sheldrick died on 13 June 1977 at the age of 57. Following her husband's death, Daphne Sheldrick continued her dedicated conservation efforts. Sheldrick and her daughter, Jill, cared for a seeming continuous succession of orphaned elephants and rhinos. As a result, the David Sheldrick Memorial Appeal, a project of the African Wildlife Project, metamorphosed into the

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operates an orphan elephant rescue and wildlife rehabilitation program in Kenya. It was founded in 1977 by Dame Daphne Sheldrick to honor her late husband, David Sheldrick. Since 2001, it has been run by their daughte ...

in 1987; becoming an independent non-profit organisation. Embracing the conservation, preservation, and protection of wildlife in Kenya, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust--renamed in February 2019 to honor Daphne and the whole Sheldrick family--today operates the most successful orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. It works alongside Anti-Poaching Teams, Mobile Veterinary Units, Aerial Surveillance, and a Sky Vet initiative in partnership with the

Kenya Wildlife Service Kenya Wildlife Service is a state corporation under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established by an act of Parliament; Wildlife Conservation and Management Act CAP 376, of 1989, now repealed and replaced by the Wildlife Conservation and Ma ...

. Other projects which aim to safeguard the natural environment and enhance community awareness include Saving Habitats and Community Outreach projects. Best known for its pioneering Orphans' Project, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has successfully rescued over 262 orphaned elephants and reintegrated over 160 back into the wild.

Honours

For her work as a conservationist, Sheldrick was awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in the

1989 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...

, and separately elevated to

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNEP ...

in 1992, where she was among the first 500 people worldwide to have been accorded this particular honour. Sheldrick was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate in

Veterinary Medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

and Surgery by

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in June 2000. In December 2001 her work was honoured by the Kenyan Government through the prestigious Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) decoration. In 2002, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

recognised Sheldrick with their Lifetime Achievement Award. In the November 2005 issue of the ''Smithsonian'' magazine, Daphne Sheldrick was named as one of 35 people worldwide who have made a difference in terms of animal husbandry and wildlife conservation.Douglas Chadwicks, 2005, "35 Who Made a Difference: Daphne Sheldrick," ''Smithsonian'', 1 November 2005, se

accessed 9 October 2014. Queen Elizabeth II promoted Daphne Sheldrick a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List, " r services to the conservation of wildlife, especially elephants, and to the local community in Kenya", the first

damehood ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...

to be awarded in Kenya since the country received Independence in 1963.

Film and television

Sheldrick appeared as herself in the 2011 documentary ''

Born to Be Wild "Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 fi ...

''. She also had an appearance talking about an orphan elephant, which she took care of, which aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

on the show "My Wild Affair".

References

External links

''The Elephant Diaries'' official website

Daphne Sheldrick's author page
ConvilleandWalsh.com; accessed 6 May 2014.
Daphne Sheldrick
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldrick, Daphne 1934 births 2018 deaths British conservationists British women writers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from breast cancer Elephant conservation Keepers of animal sanctuaries Kenyan conservationists Kenyan people of British descent Kenyan women writers Morans of the Order of the Burning Spear Place of birth missing