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Help Raise Elephant Orphan Phabeni
A baby elephant can not survive on its own. Their needs are diverse and nuanced and require a special kind of management, one with heart and soul and respect as well as milk and medicine. The carer’s keep a close eye on the orphans, as they are at their most vulnerable during the first weeks of their rescue. An orphan’s condition can take a turn for the worse at any moment, and the team needs to be prepared for anything.
Every orphan deserves a second chance at life, and as emotional beings they also deserve a new family to accompany them throughout their life’s journey.
Phabeni was rescued in November 2023 near the Kruger National Park. He was found on a private property with no sign of his mother or herd in the surroundings. He was likely separated from his herd due to the fencing around the property making it unable for him to find a way out.
He is currently staying in the orphanage, with Lammie the sheep, by his side. Phabeni has been through a very stressfull and traumatising time, and he needs to recover both physically and emotionaly.
Without his mother’s milk, the HERD team has to specially formulate milk and adjust it to suit his changing needs.
It is imperative that an elephant calf is in the company of other elephants for their emotional wellbeing. As soon that Phabeni is strong enough, Phabeni will slowly and at his pace be integrated in the Jabulani Herd, living in the stables next to the orphanage.
- 2 milk bottles every 2 hours until she is 4 years old – 25€/bottle feed
- nutritional supplements are added to the mik bottles – 43€/day
- hay for bedding – 70€/month
- sweet potatoes supplement – 86€/week
- electricity costs – 216€/week
- veterinary check-up bills – 493€/month
- elephant carer salary costs – 1338€/month
HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development) is South Africa’s first dedicated elephant orphanage and provides a solution to the human-elephant conflict that has increased with poaching. HERD is a safe space where calves that are orphaned due to manmade problems can receive rehabilitation and integration into an elephant social structure where they can thrive and develop naturally.
Currently, the orphanage is equipped to care for three orphans at any one time. The orphanage is located on the grounds near the barns of the Jabulani herd.
The unusual structure of this herd, rescued from Zimbabwe and the majority of which are orphans themselves, presents a unique solution for orphaned baby elephants: unlike wild herd, they have graciously accepted orphan elephants into their family and therefore offer orphaned elephants a unique access to a new elephant herd according to their individual emotional needs.
It is a lifetime commitment to ensure the orphan’s safety and care with the Jabulani Herd. Operational costs for this include monthly veterinary check-up bills, daily nutritional supplement costs, monthly elephant carer salaries, weekly electricity bills and daily hay for bedding.
Through HERD, orphaned elephants can heal and rejoin the social structure that is essential for these social animals, while in a reserve where they roam and forage naturally during the day. Every elephant matters. Every elephant needs a herd. Should the rescued herd continue to grow, they may split into two as with wild herds. At this time, they would ensure new grounds to relocate the herd into a wild environment that is safe and suitable for them, without the threat of human-elephant conflict.
SEPTEMBER 2023 – 50€ FOR MILK BOTTLES FOR KHANYISA’S 4TH BIRTHDAY
This donation has been matched by 50% through globalgiving’s little by little campaign by 25€ so totals 75€
FEBRUARY 2023 – 150€ THROUGH INSTAGRAM FUNDRAISING ACTION MILK BACKPACKS
SEPTEMBER 2022 – 160€ THROUGH GLOBALGIVING LITTLEBYLITTLE CAMPAIGN
This donation has been matched by 25€ so Herd receives 185€
SEPTEMBER 2021 – 3000€ THROUGH GLOBALGIVING HERD KHANYISA CAMPAIGN
MAY 2020 – 1000€ GIFT BY ROTARY MALDEGEM BELGIUM TO SUPPORT KHANYISA
Orphaned albino elephant, Khanyisa’s journey of survival was nothing short of inspirational! Her story has touched the world. She was found in January 2020, as a four-month old calf – alone, without her herd in sight, with a poacher’s snare around her cheeks and ears. Her injuries were severe. Wildlife vets estimated that she spent four days stuck in the snare and that she had been trying desperately to free herself. She was brought into the care of the HERD orphanage team, where her carers are looking after her night and day.
Khanyisa was born with the hardship of being an albino elephant in the wild, meaning that she is more sensitive to the harsh African sunlight, but she has learnt to cover herself with mud and sand to protect herself. She has overcome the snare wounds, the trauma of being orphaned, ill health, diarrhea and had a blood transfusion as we fought to get her through rehabilitation.
Without her mother’s milk, the HERD team has to specially formulate milk for her and adjust it to suit her changing needs. Thanks to the care and love of the carer”s team, Khanyisa (meaning Sunshine in Shona) is now fully rehabilitated and has been integrating into the Jabulani elephant herd.
Donate 10€
Because every donation, no matter how big or small, counts. When donating 10€, you support Phabeni with 1 milk bottle. Contact us if you want to receive a donation certificate from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 25€
When donating 25€, you support Phabeni with 2 milk bottles. Contact us if you want to receive a donation certificate from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 50€
When donating 50€, you support Phabeni with 2 bottle feeds. You will also receive a donation certificate from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 100€
When donating 100€, you support Phabeni with milk bottles & lots of very needed vitamin supplements. You will also receive a donation certificate and a personal thank you letter from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 250€
When donating 250€, you support Phabeni with lots of milk bottles & medical check-ups so she gets all she needs to grow up! You will also receive a donation certificate and a personal thank you letter from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
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