Blog 3

Il progetto della riserva di Shongweni era nato come un qualcosa di secondario a cui sia io che Greg ci eravamo ripromessi di dedicare solo un’ora al giorno per eventuali telefonate, sviluppi, mail da scrivere, ma eravamo entrambi d’accordo che non avrebbe rappresentato la nostra priorità.

Tutti bei propositi che sono diventati aria non appena ci siamo piacevolmente scontrati con la realtà di un Inkosi che ora vuole proclamare la sua terra riserva naturale, la realtà della vecchia gestione che a fine giugno 2018 avrebbe terminato il contratto, la realtà delle 10/15 telefonate al giorno con persone di diversi dipartimenti che cercavamo di approcciare per rinforzare il progetto con collaborazioni strategiche. Ormai questo progetto ci stava assorbendo pensieri, energie e tempo.

Blog 2

Il significato dell’espressione “conservare la biodiversità” non è subito immediato per tutti, io confesso di averci impiegato qualche minuto a rispondere la prima volte che mi è stata posta questa domanda e scommetto di essere stata anche molto banale. La sfida ora è spiegarne l’importanza alle comunità locali.

Thandora – Final Chapter

Anthropomorphism

Readers of this blog will probably ask 100 questions and offer as many possible answers as to why the girls did not accept Thandora.

During my hours with her in the reserve I challenged every scenario possible. All I can say is that Thandora was happy on her own. The day after the famous meeting described in videos and pictures in the previous blog, we meandered to a dam I called our ‘secret dam’. The water was clear and for some reason there were no traces of elephant spoor at this Dam. I assumed the other elephants did not come to this dam very often for whatever reason.

Thandora – Part 10

Have you ever had that feeling where you wish for something but know it will not happen? I was wishing that Thandora would connect with the girls but knew deep down it would not happen. It was almost as if Thandora had told my deeper conscious that she was not interested. The concept of her living in a reserve, sustaining herself just did not fit with her.

Thandora – Part 8

Standing in the exact same position I was in when I released Bonnie and Thembile, I waited as Thandora tentatively approached the invisible line that separated her holding-boma space from 10 000 hectares of reserve. The gate was open and all she had to do was walk out, but the moment was to big for her and she was clearly not happy about taking this next step.

Thandora – part 6

Reserve Life

The holding Boma is situated a few kilometres from the main lodges and within the 11 000 hectare reserve where Thandora was to be released. At this stage I was with Thandora 24/7, and with life returning to normal on the reserve, my support group had whittled down to two reserve staff who relieved me when I needed a break.  My team had whittled away slowly, with the behavioural specialists having left, leaving me alone with her. It was important to have consistency in the staff working with her as we built up to the release date.

Thandora – part 5

Who put who to bed?

It was a warm night and the sun set to a kaleidoscope of colours with Thandora setting a lone figure with a backdrop of beautiful mountains. I was checking mails on my phone and drifting off in thought when I felt a thud, and the car jolted and shook. I startled and turned to see that Thandora was leaning against the vehicle, a 4×4. She was using the vehicle as her sleeping pillar. Then she started snoring and I then realised she was just a scared little soul that wanted to be close to another being.

Thandora – part 4

Thandora does not feel so welcome

Almost every translocation I have been involved in we arrive at our destination after midnight, and this one proved to be no different. The reserve staff were excited to be a part of the process and this meant that the numbers of the team had grown. More people, more ego’s, more chiefs.

I sat back knowing that in a few hours the adrenaline wears off and all will return back to normal. I made a suggestion that we set up a night-watch, but the suggestion was turned down, people were exhausted.

Chapter 1: The awakening

Thandora – part 3

Moral dilemma

It was at that moment that I knew my life was about to change. The moment I reported that I knew a plan was going down to take young elephants from their mothers to enter the tourism industry, I would be targeted. I knew that at some stage I was going to report the facts that I knew of and that hell would follow this. I would be accused, threatened, and emotionally assaulted by the culprits when they found out that I was the whistleblower.

This one simple example is representative of how some of the places get wild elephants into captive environments.

Not all of them, but some of them.

Chapter 1: The awakening

Thandora – part 2

After six years of working intimately with captive elephants, interacting with some of the world’s top vets, meeting leading elephant researchers and being invited to write the code of conduct for captive wild elephants in South Africa, I thought I had a grasp on the subject.

Thandora however taught me otherwise.