So it's feeding time here at Retetti, early morning feeding time and here come the elephants running for their milk.

The keepers are standing here holding milk bottles.

Oh this is a hungry fellow.

One of the keepers here is singing to the elephants.

Basically, the keepers are Samburu Morans.

The Morals are the warriors, the Samburu warriors.

And in fact, they have spent most of their life having their cows before they came here and now they have just

transformed into now taking care of the elephants. That's the song they sing when they

give their cows water. So now they have just translated it so that they sing for the elephants.

This elephants are often.

So we keep us, we are their mothers.

We work with them in the bush and we sleep with them in the night.

Actually that bond that we have is such strong. Sometimes they are not feeling well

you also feel like you are not okay.

In this corner of Northern Kenya, former warriors have turned elephant caretakers

and now work here at Retetti in what's thought to be the first community-owned elephant sanctuary in Africa,

protecting the animals that they live alongside.

I am Michael Kalloki with the BBC World Service and this is the story of those Warrior Elephant Guardians.

All the keepers, all the employees are from the community.

That has actually strengthened the bond between the local people and the elephants.

This is a story about people, as much as about the animals they protect a story not just about conservation

but about the elephant as an unexpected catalyst for peace bringing different tribes and ethnic groups together.

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