Melania Trump Feeds Baby Elephants in Kenya Amid Criticism Over Husband's Wildlife Policies

First Lady Melania Trump went on safari and fed baby elephants in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday in an effort to raise awareness about the country’s wildlife conservation efforts.

During the visit, part of her five-day, four-country solo tour of Africa, the first lady, 48, administered a giant baby bottle of formula to two of the little elephants and spent time petting others, according to a pool report.

When one of the elephants came bounding toward her, the first lady, dressed in pristine tan riding pants, boots and a white safari hat, appeared startled and jumped back before giving way to laughter.

But what seemed like a lighthearted moment to some was met with criticism from others who pointed to President Donald Trump’s controversial wildlife policies.

In July, HuffPost and other outlets reported that the Trump administration had granted 38 permits to import lion trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia since 2016. The news came months after the Trump administration quietly began allowing more imports of lion and elephant trophies from several African nations.

According to the documents obtained by the nonprofit Friends of Animals, 33 Americans were issued the permits, some of which were for animals that were killed years ago. While the majority of the 38 permits were applied for under the Obama administration, all of them were approved under the Trump administration, a spokeswoman for the animal advocacy group told The Hill at the time.

The African lion population has declined by 43 percent in the last 21 years, with only an estimated 23,000 lions remaining, Newsweek reported, citing statistics from the African Wildlife Foundation. After the controversial hunting death of Cecil the Lion in 2015, then-President Barack Obama added two subspecies of African lion to the endangered species list.

But in March 2018, the Trump administration quietly reversed Obama-era resctrictions on importing elephant and lion parts from Zimbabwe and Zambia as trophies, saying permits would be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Trump has faced backlash over his policies from politicians, environmentalists and elephant lovers — including accusations that his decisions were motivated by sons Eric and Donald Jr., both of whom are avid hunters.

While on safari Friday, Mrs. Trump rode around in open-air vehicle, taking photos on her iPhone and using binoculars to get a closer look at zebras, giraffes, impalas, rhinos and hippos.

She also visited a site where 105 tons of ivory was burned as part of a demonstration to discourage the trade.

Also on Friday, the first lady visited an orphanage in Kenya, where children greeted her with singing and dancing and she sashayed along to the beat of African music.

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Mrs. Trump was met with criticism on Thursday when she arrived in Malawi to find a crowd of protestors, including two carrying a sign that read: “Welcome to Malawi #NOTASHITHOLE!”, according to the Associated Press. The hashtag was a reference to President Trump’s remarks in January in which he reportedly referred to some African nations, along with Haiti and El Salvador, as “shithole countries.”

The first lady, who began her African tour in Ghana on Tuesday, will continue on to Egypt before returning to Washington, D.C., on Sunday.