Stop Snaring ~ The Pandemic Facing Elephants Big & Small

By ffc_admin

Listen to HERD Elephant Manager, Tigere Matipedza’s #STOPSNARING message: Setting out snares is just one of the tools that farmers throughout the world utilise in preventing the decimation of their crops and herds and therefore their livelihoods. In America, bobcats are opportunistic predators raiding farms for chickens, sheep, goats and domestic turkeys, while in many … Continued

Learning from the Giants | A Study into the Personality of Elephants

By ffc_admin

โ€œThere is a powerful force unleashed when young people resolve to make a change.โ€ โ€• Jane Goodall Once in a while, we have the time and opportunity to give a nature conservation or environmental science student the chance to carry out valuable practical research work in our reserve, as part of their academic studies. It … Continued

Taking Care of the Land that Cares for Us ~ A HERD Project

By ffc_admin

Just as the elephants need to be sustained, supported and protected, so too does the land that they roam across, that sustains and supports them. The beauty but also difficulty of conservation is how interlinked every part of the whole is. Much like caring for a baby elephant orphan, there are many factors to give … Continued

The Anatomy of an Elephant ~ The Elephant’s Hair

By ffc_admin

Khanyisa’s hairy albino chin! Elephants are anything but hirsute, but their sparse, strategically-placed hair is as important to them as is the head-to-toe covering preferred by many other mammals. In murky waters the bristle-like hairs on the snouts of the Amazon river dolphins allow them to forage in the muddy sediment while the tip of … Continued

Farewell Fenya ~ You Are Always in our Hearts

By ffc_admin

Adine Roode, founder of HERD, together with wildlife veterinarian Dr. Peter Rogers and the dedicated team of elephant carers at HERD fought day in and day out to gain her trust, and provide her with treatment and care. Blood tests were taken which showed very low albumin levels and a low red blood cell count … Continued

A New Orphan Elephant Calf at HERD: Fenya the Survivor

By ffc_admin

A second elephant calf snare victim was brought into our care at HERD Elephant Orphanage, South Africa, on 17 February 2021. This young female elephant calf was found on a private game reserve in Phalaborwa, in Limpopo province by local resident, Willem Botha and his son, Liam. She had a wire snare wrapped tightly around … Continued

The Joys of African Elephants & Cool Wet Mud

By ffc_admin

The rains have been blessing our reserve abundantly lately and many parts of South Africa and it’s not gone unnoticed by the elephants! On this walk in the bush, the herd take great advantage of the mud beneath their feet. Klaserie, Setombe, Mambo and Sebakwe in particular enjoy the glorious cooling mud on this rainy … Continued