This is Ambo

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIKo2WhB5B_/

And these are Roi and Ndotto

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH5zCzmBUhE

Ah, you must also meet this fella who’s in a awful hurry

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHDi36Gh1CJ/

These guys are Mbegu, Kauro and Kamok

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIWX3_ShkoC/

They, with all the other baby elephants, live at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, in Nairobi, Kenya

Such adorable creatures

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG4d6xfAUN3/

We have a special thing, you and me

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHud4NQB3XY/

Just look at that

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHImhb3hvvr/

These are the cutest baby elephants you have ever seen

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFc-F9pgUIQ/

But they have a really important story that more people should hear about

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGYLA8kgUFN/

Tens of thousands of elephants are killed each year by poachers, who hunt them for ivory. According to research, up to 100,000 African elephants were killed between 2011 and 2014 alone

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHPpBBkBqzW/

Elephant tusks do not grow out properly until they get older, so poachers generally ignore the calves. But once their tusks (which are really modified inscisors in the upper jaw) become noticeable, they become targets for poachers

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIjJK_EBsZo/

It’s really grotesque, what these poachers do

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGyIxgAAUNu/

As if killing mature elephants for ivory wasn’t bad enough, their deaths mean that the young elephants are left to fend for themselves. Baby elephants need their mother’s milk exclusively for two years, and partially till they are four. If they aren’t rescued, they almost certainly die

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFkhN2XgULL/

Conservation organisations like the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust rescue these orphan elephants and raise them till they are old enough to live independently

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHGUOvmhpFw/

Many of them have been re-released into the wild

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHLQ7V7BzSh/

And re-united with their families

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGj4zaZAUBy/

And these guys, the anti-poaching rangers, do everything they can to make sure that poachers don’t get to them

It’s very good but very hard work. Elephant conservation organisations like the DSWT need your help. Donations go a long way

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIC9yu4BWrU/

You can also help by educating the people around you about elephant conservation and the dangers of poaching

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH-KViuhb4D/

Find out more about elephant poaching, and how you can help preserve these magnificent creatures. And don’t forget to share.