An anxious start to orphan elephant Khanyisa’s morning as she tries to open the gate all on her own

It was an anxious start to the morning for Khanyisa, as she tried with all of her heart and all of her trunk to open the gate of the orphanage by herself.

Finally, with a little love and a little help from Adine, she managed to open it, and she bolted across through to the land beyond the stables to say a happy hello to her new herd.

After a few morning hellos, they set off into the reserve as they do in their morning routines with Khanyisa. It is incredible to see how, even with her light, pinker skin, their protective legs still mask her presence when walking in a tight formation.

Khanyisa was weaving in and out of legs, following the lead of Lundi’s tail as always, but at one stage did a little bolt ahead on her own!

In the bush, she spent her time as usual in the company mostly of Timisa, Kumbura, Limpopo and of course Bubi and Lundi.

Kevin Mwanje, a long-standing member of the Jabulani elephant care team, gave Khanyisa her milk on this occasion. Kevin is a natural, and you could see he loved giving her every drop of milk as much as she enjoyed drinking it.

Soon Khanyisa headed back with Bubi to the orphanage for her next bottle of the day, watch for her sweet trunk movement as she realised they were nearly there 🙂

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