Orphaned baby elephants choose Fonterra milk every time

Several orphaned baby elephants were rescued by the Rehabilitation Centre four years ago after their parents died. Located deep within a large forest reserve in Sabah, Malaysia, the Centre is renowned for its work to rehabilitate orphaned orangutans, as well as displaced sunbears and rhinos.

Hutt City Rotarian Debbie Mair, who was visiting the animal sanctuary at the time, was captivated by the tiny elephants with oversized ears, round bellies and friendly, gentle natures. Believed to be a small sub-species of the Asian elephant, Borneo’s endangered pygmy elephants live in the county’s tropical rain forests and are thought to have descended from captive elephants owned by the Sultan of Sulu in 1750.

Moved by the young animals’ plight, Debbie bought milk powder locally to feed the elephants but they did not thrive and some were lost over following months.  Debbie knew they had to take action to save the remaining baby elephants.

“Over the course of four weeks, we tested milk powders from New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Japan with the young elephants, with vet oversight and care. The results were astounding. When the elephants were offered a choice of milk powders, they actively wanted to drink Fonterra’s NZMP Fortified Milk Powder. In fact the two-to-three year old elephants refused to drink the other brands - the Fonterra one was their absolute favourite.”

Debbie said tests showed that the baby elephants did much better on the Fonterra milk powder and gained nearly twice as much weight compared to the other types of powders, which is good for their growth and development.

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