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It is our collective responsibility to protect elephants from the threats they face. It is HERD Trust’s mission to protect the 16 elephants in our care, and you can help us on this journey to give orphan elephants a second chance at life with a herd.
In 2021, African Savanna Elephants were listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as over 60% of the population is estimated to have been lost since 1965. The principal threat: poaching for ivory, and increasingly, human-elephant conflict as suitable habitats for elephants decrease.
The orphans that make up our herd at HERD Trust have experienced this conflict first-hand, and the trauma and tragedy it creates.
Several of these elephants were rescued from Zimbabwe in 2002. Culling wiped out their families and left them alone without a herd. They were sold to private operations in Zimbabwe. As violence in the country rose, with land reforms threatening to wipe the herd off the farm they were living on, the elephants were relocated safely to South Africa. To our reserve, where they live today. Sebakwe, Tokwe, Setombe, Somopane, Lundi, Fishan, Bubi – and their offspring: Limpopo, Pisa, Zindoga, Mambo, Klaserie. Their home with us and their dedicated carers enables them to live between a safe homestead and the African wilderness, with other wild elephants and wildlife.
The new orphans that the herd accepted and welcomed found solace from human-elephant conflict too: Jabulani, Kumbura, Timisa, Khanyisa.
Our GlobalGiving Fundraising Campaign, Help an Elephant, Help a Herd, hopes to raise funds for HERD’s elephants. As you can imagine, the cost of caring for, feeding, housing, supporting, and protecting an elephant is mammoth. Your generous donations are vital and help us do the hard and essential work on the ground.
Every elephant needs a herd. Every orphan elephant deserves a second chance at life.
Follow our YouTube channel for frequent updates on the elephants and a look into the lives we are able to give them at HERD Trust, thanks to your support.
