David Sheldrick was a Kenyan farmer and park warden who served as the founder warden of Tsavo National Park in Kenya
. He was born in 1919 and served in the King's African Rifles during World War II, being promoted to the rank of Major at the young age of 28
As the first warden of Tsavo, Sheldrick had to deal with the problem of armed poachers, which he combated by utilizing staff from the Game Department and National Parks
. He studied the elephants' lifestyle in the park, collecting data on their food sources, and rescued and hand-reared vulnerable elephants, rhinos, and antelopes along with his wife Daphne
Sheldrick was instrumental in developing Tsavo's infrastructure, paving over 1,000 km of roads and overseeing the construction of a concrete causeway across the Galana River
After Sheldrick's untimely death from a heart attack in 1977 at the age of 57, his widow Daphne Sheldrick (later Dame Daphne Sheldrick) established the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in his memory
The trust runs a nursery for orphaned elephants and other animals in Nairobi National Park.
The 21-meter high Sheldrick Falls in Shimba Hills National Reserve were also named after David Sheldrick
Additionally, a frog species, the Sheldrick's reed frog, was named in his honor
