Orphaned elephant Khanyisa meets Setombe and Klaserie from her future family.

Khanyisa’s family is growing bigger by the day! We have introduced this brave little elephant to another two of her future family members from the Jabulani Herd, Setombe (approx 25 years old) and her daughter, Klaserie (13 years old).

Setombe is a fantastic mother to Klaserie, but is a bit of a nervous elephant and does not always trust easily. It was lovely to see how calm and relaxed she was at all times with Khanyisa. Klaserie, however, was a bit unsure of Khanyisa as Khanyisa was of her, and they were keeping their distance at first until Klaserie started taking a much keener interest by day two.

Klaserie did not know how to react when Khanyisa looked for her teat, as she has never been a mother before, so it made her feel a little uncomfortable and she moved away.

They have all enjoyed each others company the past two mornings, joined with Lundi and Jabulani, of course. Khanyisa has shown a lot of confidence and seems to be enjoying every moment of her new experiences.

Khanyisa still recognises Lundi as her adoptive mom who is doing such an excellent job with her new responsibility.

We are pleased with the progress of the integration thus far. It has been relaxed and calm for Khanyisa, as we do not want her to feel stressed. We feel confident to introduce Khanyisa to another male bull next.

As always, we will keep you updated!
Enjoy the long video clip showing all the special moments.

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