Six Months of Rehabilitation for Orphaned Albino Elephant Calf Khanyisa

An incredible six months of rehabilitation and phased integration into the Jabulani herd for little albino elephant calf, Khanyisa at HERD.

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 Park by two employees of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency. She was taken to Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary in Mpumalanga to be stabilised, while 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 their 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. It is with immense pride, six months later that we 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.

The most significant part of her rehabilitation process was the long yet successful treatment of her wounds. The open flesh of her deep mouth wounds from the snare had maggots feeding off the decaying flesh, creating gaping holes into her mouth. She also had deep lacerations around her neck and back of her ears, with a severed top lop of her right ear. First, we had to clean & treat the calf’s wounds to combat infection.

On 16 January, our dedicated wildlife vet, Dr. Rogers stitched up the calf’s cheek and mouth wounds. At the end of January, he stitched the back of her right ear.

Adine started with stemcell treatment on Khanyisa’s wounds in March, to assist in the final stage of healing. The treatment was successful; her wounds had healed entirely by the end of March.

During these milestones, Khanyisa suffered occasional bouts of dirrhoea, which is always disconcerting with elephant calves. Diarrhoea can be brought upon from PTSD, bacteria, teething or dietary challenges as their nutritional needs consistently change as a calf grows. But the HERD team, working continuously throughout the COVID-19 Lockdown, saw to every hurdle with efficient care & managed to help the calf through these bouts, with the assistance of Dr Rogers and trusted elephant advisors.

With Khanyisa’s physical rehabilitation complete, we started with her phased integration into the Jabulani herd.

Jabulani was the first elephant that Khanyisa met in person, trunk to trunk. He is a rescued orphan who was found in 1997, having suffered a similar fate, found alone, stuck in a mud pool.

Lundi, an older female in the Jabulani herd, was chosen to be Khanyisa’s adoptive mother and was introduced to Khanyisa next. Lundi was the ideal choice made by Adine, since the herd Matriarch, Tokwe, already had her time filled caring for her own two children and another two younger orphans.

Over the weeks, the other elephants in the Herd were introduced step by step – at a gradual pace to not overwhelm Khanyisa or the Herd and to better monitor each of their reactions and stress levels, which we track through sampling their dung daily.

Khanyisa started to join the elephants on their daily walks through the wild of the reserve, foraging & roaming. The calf began with shorter two-hour stints and soon built up to four-hour walks, which meant another change: milk feedings in the bush. She is dependent on us to provide her milk until she is fully-weaned at the age of approximately 4 – 5 years old. The cows are not lactating as it is not our objective at HERD to breed with the elephants.

As of this week, she is now spending longer days – stretching from 6AM to 2PM – in the wild with the elephants, and joining them for their afternoon swims too.