Daphne Sheldrick

Dame Daphne Marjorie Sheldrick is a Kenyan-British author, conservationist and an expert in animal husbandry. She was born in Kenya on 4th of June 1934. She attended Nakuru Primary School and matriculated with Honors from Kenya High School in 1950. Her growing up amongst farm animals and other animals gave her a good understanding and a special connection with their psyche. She received a bursary to attend Cambridge, but she married instead.

Her husband David Sheldrick had a wildlife park which they both managed for 25 years. After his death, the “David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust” has done exemplary work in wildlife conservation, principally for animals that would have otherwise faced certain death. She was a pioneer to optimize the milk formula for infant milk dependent rhinos and elephants and nurtured orphaned elephants into fully grown adults with the help of it. She started an “Orphans Project” for the Orphaned elephants.

Daphne wrote quite a few books about her experiences with the wild. A few of her works are, ‘Love, life, and Elephants: An African Love Story’ (2012), ‘An Elephant called Eleanor’ (1980), The Tsavo Story (1973), ‘My Four-footed Family’ (1979). In 2006, she was bestowed with Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by the Queen. Being a Kenyan, she was the first of her kind to receive the knighthood, since Kenya became independent in 1963. In 2002, she was awarded the BBC lifetime achievement award. She acted in a BBC documentary which was about her husbandry called “The Elephant Diaries.” It released in 2010.

She also made an IMAX film in 2011 called “Born to Be Wild 3D” which was profoundly critically acclaimed. In June 2006; she received an honorary doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery for her pioneer and exemplary work in animal husbandry and nurture from Glasgow University.