Khanyisa the albino elephant calf who was rescued from a poaching snare has made an incredible recovery and just celebrated her first birthday… this is her journey.
Hoedspruit, South Africa (29 September 2020) – Like a story straight out of a Disney movie, this little innocent baby elephant – completely rare in her colour – was found severely injured and alone. Her situation was incredibly dire and her future was uncertain. But with a lot of care from humans, and love from a herd of orphaned elephants, Khanyisa just celebrated her first birthday with trumpets, and trunk-kisses and tears.
It has been an incredible nine months of rehabilitation and phased integration into the Jabulani herd for little albino elephant calf, Khanyisa at HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development), South Africa’s first dedicated elephant orphanage.
“At a time when we have needed it the most, she gave us hope, passion and joy, having survived her terrible start to life, healed from her wounds, overcome sickness, and being accepted into a new herd of her own. She has constantly overcome each hurdle with a special kind of positivity and fight, and inspired us to do the same.”
Khanyisa was rescued on 7 January 2020, having survived several days on her own in the wild, severely injured from a snare that had wrapped itself around her head, severing the top lobe of her left ear and causing severe lacerations around her head, neck, mouth and cheeks. The four-month-old calf somehow managed to free the snare from the ground, but it remained wrapped around her, continually digging and cutting into her flesh.
“It is unclear if her herd had abandoned the albino calf before she was ensnared or after the incident. The fact that she survived so long in the wild is a miracle; she was dehydrated, and her eyes had swollen shut from pressure building from the snare and the swelling around her head. The trauma she experienced, although not visually evident, will no doubt cut much deeper than the physical pain she endured.”
The calf was discovered in a nature reserve neighbouring the south-west of the Kruger National Park by two employees of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA). She was taken to the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary in Mpumalanga to be stabilised. At the same time, the inter-provincial permit was arranged to translocate her to the province of Limpopo, where HERD is situated. The same day, our elephant care team departed from HERD to join the Care for Wild team to provide essential milk and care for the calf overnight.
On 8 January, the little calf arrived at HERD, to start her long road of love and rehabilitation ahead of meeting her new family-in-waiting, the Jabulani Herd. It is with immense pride, nine months later… that the team can relate her remarkable story of survival and development.
The Jabulani herd of rescued elephants, all mostly orphans themselves, have accepted and adopted orphans before with great success. Khanyisa’s journey began right beside the Herd in our orphanage nursery, with dedicated carers and her companion sheep, Lammie, by her side, giving round-the-clock care, support and attention Khanyisa’s rehabilitation has gone through several milestones in the six months that she has been at HERD, as she has progressed from the skinny, dehydrated 124-kilogram animal to the healthy 250-kilogram elephant she is today.