As the light warmed toward dusk, five people dressed in shades of green milled nervously around a baby elephant. All the science, all the theory leading up to this moment, checked out. But now, it was a question of practice: Would this three-foot-tall infant like the newly concocted baby formula? Would her body react well to it?

The five people, keepers at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, northern Kenya’s only elephant orphanage, grasped one another’s hands. They were half-praying that she would be healthy, half-promising that they’d make sure of it. As baby Sera’s sips turned to glugs, and one downed bottle turned into two, the tension started to loosen. And in the days that followed, the feeble two-week-old