Why The Elephants Are On Contraception & What It Means

Once the elephants in our herd become sexually mature, they need to be put onto contraception, as a matter of South African legislation that makes it illegal for semi captive elephants like ours, who rely on human care and support, to breed. Before these rules and regulations were put into effect by the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa, the elephants in our herd were able to breed, which led to Tokwe, Bubi, Setombe and Lundi all falling pregnant and having offspring of their own. We catch up here with Adine and Dr Peter Rogers, our wildlife vet and advisor, to share insight into contraception in elephants, the why’s, how’s, what’s and more! The older bulls and cows in our rescued herd therefore do not procreate, the females do not lactate or bare offspring, the males do not go into musth. This prevents the aggressiveness and other challenges that come into play when a bull goes into musth, helping to protect the herd and their human carers. We hope this answers some of the questions you might have had about this!