CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — When it comes to the niche business of relocating elephants, Dr. Amir Khalil and his team might be the best.
Egyptian veterinarians have perhaps the most The most famous elephant relocations on earthIn 2020, Khalil’s team KaavanA Malayan Asian elephant, who had been living alone for years in a Pakistani zoo, was rescued and given a better life with other elephants in a Cambodian sanctuary.
At the time, Ka’avan was called “the loneliest elephant in the world” and the project was a huge success, but Ka’avan wasn’t the only one who needed help.
Next is the last captive elephant in South Africa.
Charlie, a four-ton elderly African elephant, had outlived the other elephants at the zoo in the capital, Pretoria, for more than 20 years. Wildlife experts say elephants are sensitive animals and Charlie had shown signs of being extremely unhappy in his captivity since his partner, Randa, died in 2020.
Zoo officials decided he should be “retired” somewhere more appropriate for a big old elephant: a large private wildlife sanctuary about 200 kilometers (120 miles) away, where he could make new elephant friends.
How to get him there? Khalil, an animal rescue specialist with wildlife conservation group Four Paws, was the obvious choice for this latest gigantic job.
If any elephant deserves to enjoy their later years, it’s Charlie.
Captured as a calf in western Zimbabwe in the 1980s and separated from its herd, the lion spent 16 years in a South African circus and 23 as a star attraction at the Pretoria National Zoo. He is now thought to be 42 years old, with 40 of those years spent in captivity.
“I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands of people and children have witnessed and enjoyed Charlie,” Khalil said. “I think it’s time for Charlie to enjoy life and live as an elephant.”
The mechanics of transitioning the elephants to their new lives are complicated. Khalil doesn’t dart or tranquilize his elephants, mainly because that’s not good for animals as big as elephants, and it’s not that easy to move a four-ton elephant that’s been tranquilized.
So began the process of training the sometimes-grumpy old elephant to willingly climb into a large metal shipping container that was being loaded onto a truck. Khalil and fellow veterinarians Dr. Marina Ivanova and Dr. Frank Goeritz, also part of the Ka’aban relocation team, first began working with Charlie two years ago.
The team trained Charlie to walk to a “training wall” with gaps so that he could be given a food reward — pumpkin, papaya and beetroot are his favourites — and then move on to a training wall, where the team trained Charlie to walk to a “training wall” with gaps so that the team could give him a food reward — and then move on to a training wall, where the team trained Charlie to walk to a “training wall” with gaps so that the team could give him a food reward — pumpkin, papaya and beetroot are his favourites.
The same tactics were eventually used to lure Charlie into the shipping container. When the container was introduced, it seemed like it would take months before Charlie was willing to go in, but within two weeks of starting crate training last month, Charlie was ready.
“He was very curious and wondered what this new toy was,” Ivanova said.
After hours of traveling in the back of a truck, Charlie was brought to his new home at a private animal sanctuary in Shambhala in late August.
The team said it will be a big change for the older elephant and they will keep Charlie in an area separate from the main park for a few weeks to allow him to settle in. The park also has a herd of wild elephants that Charlie may join.
Khalil said it is still very rare for captive elephants to be released back into the wild, and praised Pretoria Zoo and South African environment department officials for allowing the project. “It sends a great message from South Africa that old elephants should be given a new chance,” he said.
Khalil’s team is planning another elephant translocation in Pakistan in October.
Khalil said elephants are highly intelligent and very social animals, and although Charlie was unhappy, he was mischievous, playful and showed signs of joy. Khalil likened Charlie’s boring final years at the zoo, alone, to someone watching the same movie alone every day.
In Shambhala, Charlie will have the freedom to take mud baths, roam the bush and explore thousands of hectares of land for the first time in 40 years. He may still have some of his memories from his time as a calf before he was captured. Vets say elephants have incredible memories.
Ivanova said Charlie is already in contact with the park’s other elephants from his enclosure, who communicate using low calls that can be heard up to three miles (5 kilometers) away.
“We can hear the elephants roaring,” Ivanova said with joy, “and we’re going to help them return to being wild again.”
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa