Bill went back to Hollywood to make movies to provide much of the initial investment needed to begin development of the Mount Kenya Game Ranch towards its ultimate objective- the preservation of endangered wildlife and its regeneration, where indicated, through selective breeding programs.
Don and the others stayed on to get the work started and, from the outset, he and Iris spent much time on safari, moving animals out of areas earmarked by the government for resettlement of the poor and landless.
Bill joined the couple whenever he could, never losing his youthful enthusiasm for life in the wild- the wilder the better, including the always hazardous capture operations.
Julian stayed behind to supervise development of the ranch infrastructure and to deal with the new African government authorities in Nairobi.
President Jomo Kenyatta himself - the well-loved founding "Father of the Nation" -took an immediate and lasting interest in the project. He often directed Don and his crew to particular areas of human-wildlife conflict, seeking their help in the translocation of vulnerable animals. He took much pleasure in initiating a program to assist in the re-stocking of wildlife parks in other African countries, for which he was later inducted into The International Conservation Hall of Fame.
Slowly the Ranch filled with rescued wild animals and, whenever a surplus of stock accumulated, some of the animals would be sent not only to African reserves, but also to established, carefully vetted zoological parks in the U.S.
Many of these animals would form the nucleus of breeding herds, from which, in due course, viable family groups could be returned to their original habitats where the species had been depleted to the point of local extinction.
While Don occupied himself with the main operations, Iris found herself more and more required to take responsibility for the young, often sick and dying wildlife casualties of the pressure zones in Kenya and elsewhere on the continent.
These were "orphans of the wild" in need of a new home - of care and resuscitation in the safe environment of the Ranch.
As the menace of poaching grew, so the flow of motherless orphans onto the Ranch increased to the point that Iris's home and garden could no longer double as a refuge for wild baby animals. She then set herself the task of building a permanent facility from what had been Betty-Ann's old chicken coops.
The wildlife waifs - mostly guests, but also a few permanent residents - were thus provided with a new home and compound, which she named, formally, The Mount Kenya Animal Orphanage.
Iris then drew on the experience of game scouts, game wardens, vets, and others to refine the care program, which included training a staff of African keepers and developing "survival diets" for the most-at-risk infant orphans. One of her early supporters and advisers was the well-respected Kenyan National Park Warden Bill Woodley.
Neighbors and visitors soon became used to seeing Iris with a baby elephant or giraffe or brood of baby cheetah in tow - or most memorably for some - a boisterous scamp of a young chimp in her arms.
Often, wherever possible, the orphanage "graduates," a never-ending stream of them, would be returned to their natural homes all across Africa.
One inflexible principle Iris has always applied in the running of her project is that none of the animals would ever be treated, assigned or consigned to anyone as pets. Her strong view has been that, no matter how endearing they become, they would all remain as nature intended - wild animals, free in particular of human anthropomorphic sentiment.
In any event, the process of rehabilitation and release is never easy. But it is the consistent aim of the Ranch and Orphanage - and the success rate among Iris's "bush graduates" clearly attests to the fact that she and her team are, as she puts it "at least on the right track.
Whereas the saving of a few orphans may not count in the overall picture of conservation, it plays a primary part in how much attention and respect we should pay to nature and the environment as a whole. Since Iris started the Animal Orphanage, she has invited more than 100,000 African students to visit and take part in its conservation programs. Neither the Mount Kenya Game Ranch nor the Animal Orphanage is a charity or trust. Nor does either one provide salaried employment for its owners or directors. The dedicated staff get paid, but no one else.
Visitor tickets to the Orphanage have helped. But the receipts have never been nearly enough to meet the costs. The facility has been funded from the start through money earned not begged or otherwise solicited as donations.
