Bubi injures Timisa

Timisa, the youngest of the Jabulani herd, and an orphaned elephant accepted into the herd, experienced Bubi’s protective and often possessive behaviour over Khanyisa, firsthand.

Recently, while in the wild of the reserve, Bubi got upset with Timisa while she was playing (too much for Bubi’s liking) with Khanyisa, and unfortunately hurt Timisa with her tusks. She scraped her back. Fortunately, the injury was not serious, but it required a visit from our dedicated wildlife vet, Dr. Rogers, to do a check-up and treat her wounds.

Adine was not present when it happened, but Kevin Mwanje, one of the herd carers, said it could have been worse. Luckily he and Josiya, another carer, were able to prevent Bubi hurting her more.

Bubi is a complex elephant. She has always kept “behind the scenes” in the herd, and not been too trusting of people nor other elephants. Sadly, Bubi had a terrible start to life; she lost her mother to poachers at a very young age, which has no doubt left a lasting imprint on her.

Where Bubi excels, is in her level of maternal care. She raised her son Zindoga to be an exceptionally well-mannered and well-liked young bull, and now in recent months her immediate acceptance, love and protection over Khanyisa, has been incredibly heartwarming to watch.

Recently she confronted Adine too when she felt Adine came too close to her while with Khanyisa on one occasion (mentioned in a previous post).

We will share more about Bubi soon, but for now, we are glad that Timisa is okay, and our carers were able to appease the situation. Timisa is on the mend, but she does keep her distance from Bubi and is a little less interactive with Khanyisa at the moment. But no doubt it will blow over soon.