Sheldrick elephant orphanage

What is the Sheldrick elephant orphanage in Nairobi?

The Nairobi Nursery of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where orphaned baby elephants (and some rhinos) are hand-raised before they move to reintegration units in Tsavo.

Dame Daphne Sheldrick founded the Trust in 1977 in memory of her husband David Sheldrick, the founding warden of Tsavo East National Park. The Nairobi Nursery started in 1987 with an infant elephant called Olmeg, and in 1989 Olmeg and Taru became the first Nursery orphans to move on to the Voi unit in Tsavo, per the Trust. The reintegration units at Ithumba (2004) and Umani Springs (2014) followed.

The youngest calves depend on milk for their first years, which is why the Nursery is built around feeds. Across its units the Trust cares for more than 100 milk-dependent and keeper-dependent orphans. The Nursery is reached through the KWS Mbagathi Gate, also called the Workshop Gate, on Magadi Road.

What happens at the 11am elephant visit?

The calves run out for their bottles of formula, then play in the mud and the dust while a senior keeper introduces each one. Questions come at the end.

You stand behind a rope cordon around a red-earth clearing. The keepers bring the orphans out in small groups, the bottles go down fast, and then it is mud: rolling, wrestling, spraying. Some calves reach over the rope or bump it, and only keepers may feed or touch them.

The hour is fixed. It cannot start late or run over, so the Trust asks visitors to arrive by 10:30am. Phones go on silent, photos and video are for personal use only, and smoking and vaping are not allowed. Wear clothes you don't mind getting dusty, plus sunscreen and a hat; in the rainy months (March and April, October to December) expect mud.

★★★★★

Got covered in dust and mud but loved every second. [...] We were so close to the animals and it was an incredible experience. Suggest wearing old clothes!

How do you book the Sheldrick elephant orphanage?

By email to the Trust's Nairobi office, through the contact form on its website. Allow two business days for a reply, and book within the next three months.

The Trust's rules, from its nursery page:

• Advance booking only: no walk-ins and no same-day visits.
• Send the date, the number of adults and children, each adult's name, and each child's name and age.
• Allow at least two business days for a reply, and check your spam folder.
• You pay for every ticket in a confirmed booking, even if fewer people come.
• Bring the confirmation email, printed or on your phone.

The Trust does not accept bookings made through third-party platforms. Tour operators who include the nursery reserve the slot with the Trust themselves, per their listings. The simple step: ask your operator for the Trust's own confirmation email before the day, and bring it along. The elephants and giraffes tour and the Sheldrick and Giraffe Centre tour both list a reserved slot and the entry donation in the price.

A reserved slot at the 11am elephant visit, the entry donation and the Giraffe Centre fee in the price, with hotel pickup.

★ 4.8 · 4 hours · from $90

Explore the elephants and giraffes tour with fees included → Tour details

How much is the entrance fee at the elephant sanctuary?

US$20 per adult (12+) and US$5 per child, paid in cash on arrival, per the Trust. The Nairobi National Park entry fee is separate and paid on eCitizen.

Two payments, two methods. The Trust's donation is cash at the gate, never prepaid. The park fee goes to the Kenya Wildlife Service, online, and covers drivers and vehicles too. The figures below are for November 2026:

The park fees are under the 2025 KWS rates (Legal Notice 160 of 2025), in force since 1 October 2025. They were challenged in the High Court in October 2025, so check KWS or eCitizen before you go. Our 2026 park fees post has the full table.

Tours differ on what they cover, per each listing. The elephants and Sheldrick tours include the donation, and the guest pays the park fee online. The shared game-drive days leave the US$20 to the day, so bring US dollars in cash.

Which tours include the Sheldrick elephant orphanage?

Most Nairobi day tours that combine the elephants and the giraffes include the 11am visit; check each listing for the donation and the park fee.

Can you see the elephants and the giraffes on the same day?

Yes, and most visitors do. The elephant hour is fixed at 11am to noon, so tours go to the nursery first and the Giraffe Centre after midday.

Both sit in the south-west of Nairobi, around Lang'ata and Karen. A typical half day: hotel pickup in the morning, the nursery from 11am, then the Giraffe Centre, sometimes with a bead workshop on the way. The Sheldrick and Giraffe Centre tour lists a 9:30am pickup, the nursery at 10:30am and the giraffes at 12:30pm, per the listing.

For a full day, add a dawn game drive in Nairobi National Park before the elephants. The shared day picks up from 5:20am and gives the park about 4.5 hours first. The giraffes at the centre are Rothschild's giraffes, now usually classified as the Nubian giraffe, and our Giraffe Centre tickets guide has their fees and hours.

The baby elephants and the giraffes in one small-group day, with a reserved slot and both entrance fees in the price.

★ 4.7 · 6 hours · from $90

Explore the Sheldrick orphanage and Giraffe Centre tour → Tour details

Is the Nairobi Animal Orphanage the same as the Sheldrick orphanage?

No. The Nairobi Animal Orphanage is run by the Kenya Wildlife Service, for orphaned, injured, aged and abandoned wild animals, and has its own KWS fee.

The two get mixed up all the time. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Nursery is the elephant (and rhino) nursery with the 11am visit. The KWS Nairobi Animal Orphanage is a separate facility in Nairobi National Park, reached from Lang'ata Road, and doubles as an education centre for schools and the public, per KWS.

Its fees are under the 2025 KWS rates: US$25 per non-resident adult and US$15 per child, or US$40 and US$20 for the Nairobi Sanctuary Package that adds the Nairobi Safari Walk. Kenya residents pay KSh 405 and KSh 300. Fees go through KWS and eCitizen, so check KWS or eCitizen before you go. Our Nairobi National Park guide covers the Safari Walk.

Can you adopt an elephant at the Sheldrick orphanage?

Yes. Fostering starts at US$50 a year, for 1 to 10 years, and you can sign up in person at the end of the visit, per the Trust.

Adopters get a certificate, a watercolour print and a profile card for their orphan, then monthly updates: the keepers' diary, videos and watercolours. You can't name an orphan; the Trust names them after the place or community where they were found. Foster parents attend the same 11am to noon public visit, booked in advance like everyone else.

Before you go: there are no refreshments and no public Wi-Fi at the Nursery, so bring water. A small gift shop after the mud bath sells the Trust's own clothing and crafts by Kenyan artisans.

Frequently asked questions