Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
The YouTube channel of the Kenyan conservation charity that rescues and raises orphaned elephants and rhinos: individual stories, live streams from the nursery and anti-poaching work.
What it is
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) is a conservation charity that, as its channel description puts it, works across Kenya to protect wildlife and preserve habitats. At the heart of its work is the Orphans' Project, a programme to rescue, raise and rewild orphaned elephants and rhinos, backed by what the trust says is 50 years of field experience. The YouTube channel has around 342K subscribers and over 700 videos, and it's active: when we checked, the newest upload was three days old.
The channel covers individual orphans' stories, live streams from the nursery, vet work and patrols. It's not staged cute-animal content; it's a running record of what the trust actually does.
Why we picked it
Kenya usually reaches us through safari postcards. This channel shows conservation from the inside. Every orphan is its own story: "Meet Sibu" follows an elephant calf who survived a spearing, "Introducing Bungalu" an orphan who came through a long ordeal, and "Twiggy the Giraffe Returns" a giraffe back after eight months in the wild. There are surprises too, like the friendship between Bumpy, an orphaned hippo, and Wangalla, a young elephant.
We like that the channel doesn't hide the hard parts. "Tracking Down Snares" follows the Ithumba anti-poaching team clearing wire traps, and "Treating a Bull for an Unusual Foot Injury" shows vets working on a wild adult. Videos like "Kaluku Boys … Graduate to Ithumba" explain how orphans move step by step from the nursery toward life in the wild. Place names like Ithumba and Kaluku slowly add up to a map of the country. It's a charity, so you'll see invitations to support the work, but they're low-key.
Where to start
- Watch "Extraordinary Stories, One Orphaned Elephant at a Time" for an overview of the trust's work.
- Then "Meet Sibu, An Orphaned Elephant and Survivor of a Spearing" — a typical rescue story.
- For a smile: "Unlikely Besties: Bumpy the Hippo and Wangalla the Elephant".
- For field work: "Tracking Down Snares With Our Ithumba Anti-Poaching Team".
- Dip into a nursery live stream recording, like "Wake Up With Our Nursery Herd on World Elephant Day".
Who it's for
Animal lovers and nature documentary fans, parents looking for calm, honest videos to watch with kids, and anyone travelling to Kenya who wants to understand how wildlife is protected there.
Quick answers
Who's behind the channel? Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a Kenya-based conservation charity with a programme for orphaned elephants and rhinos.
How often do new videos come out? Regularly — when we checked, the latest uploads were three and nine days old.
Are there live streams? Yes, the channel has recordings of live streams from the nursery.
