The Wisdom of Elephants

(Part II)

by Mandy Young

More than a century ago, Henry Thoreau, a theologian wrote in his journal:

'The intellect of most men is barren. They neither fertilize or are fertilized. It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellectual fruitful, that gives birth to imagination…without nature-awakened imagination most persons do not really live in the world. They merely pass through it as they endure dull lives of quiet desperation.'

My journey with the elephants which begun in 2002 at Pongola Game Reserve was a re-awakening of the soul.

At Pongola Game Reserve there are 52 elephants, they are made up of a breeding herd, an orphan herd and several bulls. This area was the stomping ground for elephants for thousands of years until the beginning of the century when they were shot out by hunters, poachers and warring factions of Boers and Zulus. It was the vision of Heinz Kohrs, the owner of the White Elephant Bushcamp and Lodge, where we stay, to return elephants to their natural habitat again. His plan succeeded after much negotiation with neighbors and the National Parks Board in 1997. Two elephant families were translocated from Kruger National Park, they became the ‘A’ and ‘B’ family of the breeding herd. For identification purposes each family were given ‘A’ names or ‘B’ names, the bulls are usually given Zulu names. Three bulls arrived in early 1998. Elephants have a matriarchal society, with the bulls wandering between herds with their testosterone-lead, ‘musthy' prowess, seeking females to impregnate so that they can sire a genetically strong new generation. An interesting story follows. Two of the dominant bulls, took a testosterone-lead musthy journey out of Pongola Game Reserve in 1999 seeking females in estrous. One of the bulls, Ingane, which means ‘baby’ in Zulu, went to visit some female elephants 40kms away at a game reserve called Milimani.

To back track a little, in the late 1980’s a debate was raging similar to that today, around the numbers of elephants in the park. Culling is very controversial - arguments range from an enclosed habitat needs to be managed, and why should some species not survive because elephant populations are so pervasive and destructive of the habitat, to alternative arguments that it is inhumane because elephants are able to communicate for up to 60kms in good weather conditions - sonar sounds that are received with their trunks and feet, so they are conscious of what is happening; as well as elephants are capable of managing their own populations, culling is merely an indication to them that their numbers have decreased and they need to breed faster and thus culling becomes counter-productive, etc. A decision was made to cull. In ignorance adult females were killed, the leaders of the herds, carrying much wisdom, and the little 2-5 year-old orphans that remained were translocated to different reserves a round the country. As ‘child’ groups they did their best to survive and learn the knowledge that they would have been taught by their mothers. It was such a herd, who were now teenagers of 13-15years of age that Ingane went to visit. 15 months later they followed his trail and walked across the N2 into Pongola Game Reserve, and have never left. Ingane was there to meet them! He introduced them to the breeding herd, whose matriarch, Beuga, which means to look’ in Zulu, chased them angrily away, she did not want anything to do with ill-bred and poorly taught teenage elephants!

My journey at Pongola began, when a female calf, Charlie was born to an 'orphan' elephant cow within 3 weeks of Asterix being born to a second time mother in the normal breeding herd of elephants, called Aquilla. When Charlie and Asterix were born it was a wonderful opportunity for me to understand once again from the ways in which animals relate, what aspects of mothering are salient across species! My understandings have been the topic of several magazine articles, a talk at the La Leche National Conference last year, and the title of a chapter in a German Baby Book. The consequence of my privileged observations and research is the 'Wisdom of Elephants' Ecotherapy experience or Holiday Tour'. The experience has been quite life-transforming for people, the elephants are the therapists! A special lady on a 'Wisdom of Elephants' experience who had been sexually abused as a child felt she would never be a good enough mother, but after observing how the elephant mothers interacted with their calves, she realized she had the qualities to be a very good mother. A second women had experienced a sad divorce and was left feeling victimized and disempowered. By the end of a 'Wisdom of Elephants' experience she had found her voice and a new vision for her life. She decided to down-scale from a house to a flat so she had the finances to fulfill a lifelong dream - she wanted to fly an airplane! A year after this particular 'Wisdom of Elephants' experience, I received a sms that this lady had completed her third pilot's lesson and was loving the experience. She is going to fly for the Bataleurs, a conservation aviation company!