Elmo, Abby and Nina are heading to Kenya. The Sesame Street characters will travel to an African elephant sanctuary to meet an orphaned elephant that Elmo adopted online, in a new PBS Nature special titled «Sesame Street and the Great Elephant Adventure.» The program premieres October 14 at 8/7c on PBS and PBS KIDS.
The special follows the group on what PBS describes as a once-in-a-lifetime African safari adventure. After Elmo adopts an orphaned elephant online, he and his friends travel to a Kenyan sanctuary to meet the young animal alongside other iconic wildlife. The trip turns the abstract experience of online adoption into a direct encounter with the elephant and the people who care for it.
The program is a co-production involving Sesame Street and the PBS Nature series, which is produced by The WNET Group for PBS. Nature has brought the natural world to millions of viewers throughout its history and has been consistently among the most-watched primetime series on public television. The special extends that reach to a younger audience through characters familiar to generations of children.
Kenya is home to significant elephant populations and a network of sanctuaries that care for orphaned calves, often after the animals are separated from their herds. The special places the Sesame Street characters within that setting, using the online adoption as the starting point for a journey that leads to a face-to-face meeting with the young elephant.
The premiere is scheduled for both PBS and PBS KIDS, giving the program a dual broadcast window on the same evening. PBS notes that the program is made possible by viewers like you and directs audiences to support their local PBS station. Full episodes of PBS shows are also available through the free PBS Video App.
For PBS Nature, the special represents a continuation of its long-running coverage of wildlife and natural habitats, now framed through a narrative built around Elmo, Abby and Nina. The trailer presents the trip as an adventure that moves from an online adoption to a Kenyan sanctuary, where the young elephant and other wildlife become the focus of the visit.
The special arrives as part of PBS's broader children's and nature programming, with the same premiere date and time across both PBS and PBS KIDS. Viewers can follow PBS Nature and PBS on social media for additional content related to the program.