In celebration of #WorldElephantDay2020 on 12 Aug, we are featuring seven gentle giants from @jabulanisafari and @herd_elephants – South Africa’s first elephant orphanage.

Khanyisa gets her name from her unique appearance as an albino, meaning “Light”, or “Sunshine”, in the local Shona language. As an albino, Khanyisa is more visible in the bush, and thus susceptible to attacks by predators and is also more sensitive to sun. In spite of this, she continues to be a ray of light since being rescued in January 2020, as a four-month-old calf, and taken into the care of the elephant orphanage, HERD, next to Jabulani. Khanyisa had been found trapped in a snare with severe injuries. The wounds indicated that she had been trying desperately to free herself for a few days. She had severe lacerations around the back of her ears and neck that stretched around her mouth and cheeks. There was no sign of her herd anywhere. From the beginning, she settled in quickly at HERD, with Lammie, her companion sheep. With plenty of treatment, love, and around- the-clock care, Khanyisa has gone from strength to strength, her wounds have healed perfectly, and her bonds with the herd have deepened naturally as they have accepted her as one of them. Her rehabilitation at HERD has moved quickly into her phased integration into the Jabulani herd, as she joins them on all-day walks in the wilderness.

@amarula_official marula is supporting the Jabulani Elephant Care Crisis Fund to help raise funds for the sustainability of its elephant rehabilitation and development facility. The global travel bans and COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa has had drastic impacts on the facility’s ability to fund the costs related to caring for the Jabulani herd and the orphaned elephants they have accepted. It is now coming to a crisis point and they need your help. #DontLetThemDisappear.

Please donate now at link in bio! Help protect our elephants. #WorldElephantDay Link in our bio for more information. ...

In celebration of #WorldElephantDay2020 on 12 Aug, we are featuring seven gentle giants from @jabulanisafari and @herd_elephants – South Africa’s first elephant orphanage.

Timisa, meaning “Courageous”, is an orphaned elephant that was rescued in November 2016 and accepted gracefully into the Jabulani Herd. It is estimated that she was born in mid-2015, making her around five years old. Timisa’s mother, unfortunately, died as a result of a severe drought. Tokwe, the Jabulani herd matriarch, took the orphaned calf under her trunk and became her adoptive mother. With Tokwe’s guidance, and also the acceptance of Fishan, she has settled in naturally and beautifully with the herd. Timisa was very weak when she first arrived, but in time, her health improved dramatically. She has tiny tusks that have started to grow slowly. She loves eating and is always on the lookout for the next nibble. She has blossomed into a very sweet, playful and energetic young elephant, especially when around her new friend, orphan Khanyisa who is being integrated into the herd.

@amarula_official marula is supporting the Jabulani Elephant Care Crisis Fund to help raise funds for the sustainability of its elephant rehabilitation and development facility. The global travel bans and COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa has had drastic impacts on the facility’s ability to fund the costs related to caring for the Jabulani herd and the orphaned elephants they have accepted. It is now coming to a crisis point and they need your help. #DontLetThemDisappear.

Please donate now at link in bio! Help protect our elephants. #WorldElephantDay Link in our bio for more information. ...

Helping two ecosystems at once?! The Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve in South Africa is such a safe haven for elephants, that in 2018 it was home to over 270, more than the reserve could sustainably support. Whereas, 1000 miles away, the Zinave National Park in Mozambique had lost much of its wildlife due to a civil war that ended in 1992. With 400,000 hectares, and only 60 elephants, Zinave was well below its capacity, making it the perfect place to relocate elephants coming from the VLNR. So far @DeBeersGroup have moved more than 100 elephants to Zinave and will be moving 100 more from 2021. Talk about a win-win situation!

And to make sure the elephants stay safe, De Beers Group, through the Anglo American Foundation, are providing @PeaceParks US$500K of funding over five years, for anti-poaching support to help the rangers protect the elephants.

Stay tuned for the exciting updates on how the elephants are doing in their new home in Zinave that we're sharing on #WorldElephantDay, August 12.

For more information about the @MovingGiants project visit the link in bio!

Also read our article about the #MovingGiants project at worldelephantday.org ...

In celebration of #WorldElephantDay2020 on 12 Aug, we are featuring seven gentle giants from @jabulanisafari and @herd_elephants – South Africa’s first elephant orphanage.

Fishan, meaning; something smaller, was born in approximately 1989 and was rescued from Zimbabwe with the rest of the herd in 2002. In 2018, he fractured his front left leg by walking into a deep hole. His 18-month rehabilitation and recovery were miraculous and took a lot of hard work, time and team effort, but Fishan persevered and survived the odds. He got stronger and stronger by the day and is now back with his herd, walking through and foraging in the bush during the day, although now with a slight limp, and even swimming in his favourite dam. Fishan is a sensitive soul that stresses easily, although his seemingly carefree demeanour often fools one. He is a very smart elephant who doesn’t forget easily, is very independent and is usually the elephant that will take an alternative route, just to be different. He is a protective figure and helps the Matriarch, Tokwe look after the calves. Fishan is tall, but slender with short tusks.

@amarula_official is supporting the Jabulani Elephant Care Crisis Fund to help raise funds for the sustainability of its elephant rehabilitation and development facility. The global travel bans and COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa has had drastic impacts on the facility’s ability to fund the costs related to caring for the Jabulani herd and the orphaned elephants they have accepted. It is now coming to a crisis point and they need your help. #DontLetThemDisappear.

Please donate now at link in bio! Help protect our elephants. #WorldElephantDay Link in our bio for more information. ...

Posted @withregram • @maraelephantproject The rapid and global spread of the COVID-19 virus has brought with it challenging future implications for conservation. Mara Elephant Project, as first responders, have carried on safely in the field and the two @sheldricktrust Mau De-Snaring Unit teams are no exception. We continue to be deeply concerned about the socio-economic downturn and what that means for the communities we work so closely with to protect Kenya’s iconic elephants and the Mara ecosystem. As a result, we have seen an increase in bushmeat poaching and illegal habitat destruction activities, which makes the SWT Mau De-Snaring Unit team’s efforts all that more important during this time of uncertainty.

The original SWT Mau De-Snaring team “Echo” includes seven rangers and the new team “Golf” that was deployed in December 2019 has nine new recruits totaling 16 SWT rangers in the field covering the Mau Forest. The SWT Mau De-Snaring Unit teams were busy over the first half of 2020. In total, the teams (from January – June) destroyed 40 kilns, 74 bags of charcoal and seized a total of 1,792 total illegally logged timbers (500), logs (58) and posts (1,234), three power saws and arrested 48 total suspects; 30 for illegal logging activities and 18 for charcoal production or transportation activities. In terms of poaching, the teams removed a total of 92 snares, seized one antelope skin, one bow and three arrows, 5 kg of bushmeat, destroyed two poacher’s camps and arrested five suspects for bushmeat poaching. Read more, link in @maraelephantproject’s bio

#rangerrelief #worldelephantday ...

In celebration of #WorldElephantDay2020 on 12 Aug, we are featuring seven gentle giants from @jabulanisafari and @herd_elephants – South Africa’s first elephant orphanage.

Orphan Kumbura was lovingly accepted into the Jabulani herd 11 years ago. Meaning “To remember”, Kumbura was born in 2009, making her about 11 years old! In 2009, Kumbura was seen wandering on a private game reserve, next to the Limpopo River on the border of Botswana and South Africa, alone, with no sight of her mother or herd. She was alone for three months before she was rescued. Despite what Kumbura experienced, she has become a strong and caring elephant who plays an important role in the social hierarchy of the herd. She is always protective over the other orphans. Kumbura is a delicate and slender elephant with fewer wrinkles than many of the other elephants in the herd. She is a similar age to Pisa, but she looks quite a bit older. Her tusks are average in size.

@amarula_official is supporting the Jabulani Elephant Care Crisis Fund to help raise funds for the sustainability of its elephant rehabilitation and development facility. The global travel bans and COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa has had drastic impacts on the facility’s ability to fund the costs related to caring for the Jabulani herd and the orphaned elephants they have accepted. It is now coming to a crisis point and they need your help. #DontLetThemDisappear.

Please donate now at link in bio! Help protect our elephants. #WorldElephantDay Link in our bio for more information. ...