A while ago I asked our volunteers to start a daily diary, where each one would fill in observations about the day…they didn't have to be scientific about it…just to write a few lines about what they did, what the elephants were up to and interesting and/or funny things that happened. It has developed into a wonderful "in their own words" account of the daily goings-on at the Knysna Elephant Park!

 

Herewith a few choice excerpts….

 

Sept 2, 2010

Eventful morning at the Park, as Keisha, who despite her youth, was unceremoniously chased for well over an hour by Namib and Harry, who were trying to mate with her. She seems somewhat receptive in that she will present when approached and is obviously secreting something, but as soon as they try and mount her, she runs away. She is faster and smaller than the boys, so could easily escape while they trotted behind with their penis hanging out. Harry seems to prefer the full on chase and is faster. Namib tried the quiet sneak approach to see if that would be more successful

                                                                                                Laurie (Canada)

 

Sept 3, 2010

Harry and Namib still unsuccessful in attempts to catch Keisha. Half day today – into town to get groceries. Dinner at the Market in Plett. Fun atmosphere.

                                                                                               

Sept 4, 2010

Saturday – Isaure arrives. Volunteers spend the day at Tenikwa Wild Cat Sanctuary and have a lovely lunch in the Crags. Sundowners for Dr. Debbie's birthday at the Ski Boat Club. Great dolphin sightings and a lovely evening.

 

Sept 12, 2010

It was a good sunny day. In the morning all the volunteers went for a ride. It was so nice. For myself, it was the first time to ride an elephant. It's an experience that I would never forget. After that we were doing activity budgets. I like doing that because you spend a lot of time with the elephants and guides. In the evening we were busy entering data into the computer. Every day it's just a new day at Knysna with elephants around you, I love that!

                                                                                                Emmanuelle (Malawi)

 

Lately, we have developed a little bit of a routine at the park, which for the most includes many of the same things week after week, such as data collection on elephant activity budgets, nearest neighbor info, herd activity data etc. However, every once in a while, we have the opportunity to get involved in something a little different, like feeding three of our elephants little plastic beads in an attempt to see how long it takes them to pass through their digestive system.

Of course there are many variables that could affect this study, which means we may have to do it on a few occasions in order to get reliable results, but hey, who would not want to do this one again. So, onto the project.

Materials needed: 20 oranges halved, creating 40 pieces. 30 plastic beads in 3 different colors resulting in 10 beads in each of the three colors.

Our test subjects:  Harry, Shungu and Mashudu

Object of the exercise: Feed each of the three elephants 10 orange halves studded with one color set of beads for a midnight snack and wait to see when they come out the following day. I can only imagine how lucky these three felt in the middle of the night being fed highly prized oranges for a snack... You may have noticed that there are 10 orange halves left over... those went bead free to Tosha, who's pen happens to be in between our test subjects and she would have been most unhappy and highly agitated had she not received treats as well... So, to keep the peace, our big moody girl was fed as well.

So, 6:30 this morning, Lana and I show up all ready for our day of dung digging. Elephants have notoriously bad digestive systems, and thus we did not expect that we would see the first bead within at least 8 hours of ingesting it. Now, this process is nothing like the simple act of collecting a dung sample and requires one to painstakingly comb through every square inch of ejected dung, which, when it comes to Harry, is allot of dung.  We spent the entire day from 6:30 am to 6:00 pm, sifting through a mountain of dung only to recover 2 measly beads.

Tomorrow will be a new day with new dung and hopefully far more beads.

RE: Volunteer page

Rainy days create the perfect opportunity for an elephant to swim, as the water in the dam actually feels warmer than the temperature of the air.  I was following Keisha that day and as always, she never fails to disappoint. The funny thing with Keisha is nobody really expects her to be the silly one... she is sweet and she looks after Thato.. she is many things, but she is also a 6 years old who sometimes just feels the need to play. I have seen her before, down at the dam, swishing water through her toes and flapping her trunk through the water to make waves etc, so when I saw her start again this day, I thought it would be more of the same, which is a joy to watch in and of itself. But no, she suddenly started wading into the water and then walking through before she took her first plunge. We watched her for 33 minutes, while she played. At one point I thought she was going to drown, as she was completely submerged, until her little trunk poked above the water.. at another time I thought she was stuck and couldn't get out of the water and would thus drown... it was worry and panic in between bouts of laughter. Every time I started to worry, one of the guides would quietly assure me that it was perfectly normal and no, she would not drown, nor was she stuck, she was simply just swimming.

Representatives of AERU and KEP recently attended the 2010 International Elephant Foundation Conservation and Research Symposium held at Kwalata Game Ranch, Pretoria. The symposium was attended by elephant owners, researchers and conservationists from South Africa and around the world. International delegates came from Europe, America, India, Sri Lanka and other African States, such as Kenya, Uganda and Botswana.

Greg Vogt (GM of KEP and chairman of the Elephant Tourism Association (ETA) and Dr. Debbie Young (head of AERU) presented an overview of the captive elephant situation in South Africa, together with a synopsis of research done on captive elephants in SA. The symposium also allowed us to introduce AERU (the newly formed African Elephant Research Unit at KEP) and highlight the need for sound research on captive elephants within their unique environments, with a view to using science to guide management of captive elephants.

Our presentation, as well as the implementation of a dedicated captive elephant research centre, was extremely well received. Conference delegates were encouraged by AERU's mission to combine research, good husbandry, management and education, with several of them wanting to form research and education partnerships. The introduction of the ETA at the conference also led to the Asian delegates identifying a need for the formation of a similar organisation, which would guide and monitor the management of elephants in their own countries.

Many international zoo delegates were astonished by the photos we showed at the conference – showing elements of how our family of elephants range across fields of grassland and fynbos. This led to an interesting debate on how to define a 'captive elephant'.      

Since the conference, delegates from India, Sri Lanka, USA and Germany have visited KEP. Several more have planned visits for the coming months. Those that have already visited have been extremely impressed with our facilities, our family of beautiful elephants and the way in which we care for and manage them. We are certain that these past and future visitors will result in the formation of long-standing partnerships, which will help to facilitate valuable research initiatives.

We will keep you updated on AERU's activities and research studies…and hopefully, at next year's conference we will be able to present data collected during one of SA's first research studies dedicated to improving the welfare and husbandry of captive elephants in this country.