It can be hard to address the elephant in the room; however it becomes considerably easier when one is standing in your lounge.
Staff at a game reserve in Zululand, South Africa found themselves with an unusual problem after a 10-day-old baby elephant ran away from its mother and ended up in their garden.
How did she get here? The female baby elephant, named Tom after the member of staff who found her in the garden, was estimated to be just over one week old when it got lost and walked into the living room
New pet: Francoise Malby Anthony, owner of the ranch, plays with her surprise guest in the living room
Lost little one: Francoise Maldy Anthony has owned the Thula Thula Private Game Reserve ranch for 15 years but said she has I have never experienced anything like it
The young female, named Tom after the ranch’s chef who first discovered the elephant in the garden, is thought to have travelled around 30 miles before ending up at Thula Thula Private Game Reserve on Tuesday night.
‘She must be like the littlest hobo as baby elephants never ever get lost from their herd.
‘It’s also remarkable that she ended up at my home – we have 4,500 hectares of land and she was spotted a day before she arrived at my home with her herd at the other end of the reserve.
Tiny dancer: After wandering into the garden, the ten-day-old elephant make its way into the Anthony family’s living room
Tom nom nom: Game rangers Shereen Bond and David Bozas feed the distressed baby elephant in an attempt to calm it down while its mother was tracked down
Where’s mummy? The young elephant is thought to have travelled for several miles, after getting separated from its mother and the rest of the herd, before ending up in Francoise Malby Anthony’s living room
Tom, meet tom: Tom the baby elephant with chef Tom Diamini, who originally found her in the garden, in Zululand, South Africa
‘She had walked miles to get here and was quite distressed when she arrived – she looked tired, thirsty and hungry.’
Mrs Anthony and her staff left Tom the elephant free to roam and were careful not to have too much contact with the animal, fearing it might make her mother reject her.
Time for cuddles: David Bozas and Shereen Bond spend some time with the young elephant who temporarily took over the livingroom in the main house on the game reserve
Making friends: Tom the baby elephant and Tom the chef get acquainted in the lounge
One more for dinner then? Staff from the Thula Thula game reserve feed Tom the baby elephant in the ranch’s kitchen
Francoise now lives alone after she lost her husband Lawrence Anthony two years ago.
He was an acclaimed conservationist and novelist who wrote a book entitled ‘The Elephant Whisperer: the Extraordinary Story of One Man’s Battle to Save His Herd’.
Hard out here: Tom rests her trunk on the sofa after exploring the living room and getting fed
Trunk in love: Francoise and her staff were careful to not have too much contact with Tom, but the charming elephant baby appeared to have been hard to resist
Tom was only inside the house for a few hours while her herd was located but Francoise and her staff described the experience as magical
Trunk in the trunk: Game ranger Shereen Bond and other members of staff attempts to return Tom to her mother after tracking down the herd