Leading Kenyan conservationist Daphne Sheldrick dies of cancer

Daphne Sheldrick spent six decades working with orphaned baby elephants. (Courtesy)

Dame Daphne Sheldrick, a well-known Kenyan conservationist who helped protect the East African country’s wildlife for 60 years, has died, her organization announced on Friday, describing her as a friend of elephants who “learned to read their hearts.”

Born in 1934 in Kenya, Sheldrick died Thursday evening “after a long battle with breast cancer,” according to her organization the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) which she helped found in 1977 after the death of her husband.