a new elephant is born!
By Roxy Danckwerts: Late on Saturday evening, the Carers at the WildisLife/IFAW release site at Panda Masuie were alerted to a problem, when the elephants became very restless and noisy. As is normal procedure, the team went outside to check what was going on and were totally astonished by what was evolving in front of them. Unfortunately, there was a power cut, so using their phone torches, they were able to witness, in minor detail, the birth of SUMMER, daughter to ANNABEL!!!
There was absolute disbelief! Some had suspected that Annabel may be pregnant, but were not at all prepared to see this birth happen so soon! We think that Annabel is around 14 years old. Many of you may remember Annabel as coming in to Wild is Life in the very early days. She was a frightened and disfigured young animal, missing about a third of her trunk and her entire tail. She has had to make some serious adjustments to her lifestyle, in order to cope with drinking water, pulling grass and picking up items off the ground. She is an absolute legend within the WIL herd. And not one to cross!!
Annabel laboured to push the calf out for about 40 minutes. She was closely accompanied by Norah, who was digging her holes and uplifting soft sand for the landing of the calf. She was rumbling and moving constantly around Annabel, giving her reassurance and immense empathy. She kept the more curious members of the herd away from Annabel, whilst she laboured.
Suddenly, with a loud whoosh and a bump, the calf was born. The jubilation amongst the elephants and the Carers was palpable and the excitement almost impossible to contain. Much trumpeting and rumbling was going on, whilst Norah helped Annabel see to her calf.
Summer is a beautiful, perfectly formed healthy little female! Annabel was still somewhat shocked by what had happened but her instincts towards the calf were healthy and correct. The only problem was, how to feed the calf? She had no clue. Neither did the calf. Elephant are renowned for needing to learn skills from their elders and their family. No one in the herd had ever had a calf before.
The Carers were becoming more and more anxious as the day wore on, and the calf had still not latched on. They were able to milk some colostrum from Mum and feed the calf by hand. This had to be done every one or two hours. Not an easy task with a confused mother and an Auntie (Norah) who had taken charge.
I jumped on a plane and raced up there to help the Carers. I had phoned Angela Sheldrick who gave me some critical and deeply valuable advice. We just had to keep milking the Mum, for however long it took, and keep feeding the calf as much as we could get. We also needed to encourage the calf to suckle in the right place.
This continued for some days and our anxiety level was reaching a fever pitch. I felt that the calf was not getting enough liquids, despite the richness of elephant colostrum. However, the calf remained strong and bouncy, on minimal intake. That being said, she was getting more and more frustrated by each passing hour and with her crushing hunger.
Elephant are notoriously difficult to milk by hand. They switch their milk off, as soon as the tugging begins. The perseverance shown by the Carers, lead by January Gweshe and Paradzai Mutize, was extraordinary. None of us was going to lose this battle.
Finally, late on day 3, after a particularly stressful time of manoeuvring the calf, Summer decided to latch on!! We all sang and danced with relief and pure joy! Milk was spraying out of the nipples and Summer drank and drank … and drank! Annabel stood quietly, with a sense of resolve and relief. Norah calmed down and nuzzled the calf affectionately.
So today, we have a happy trio … Mum, Auntie and Baby, all as one, doing what elephants do.
We suspect a wild bull is the father of this calf, as Annabel has spent many nights out in the wild during the past few years. We consider this to be a great achievement. Although Annabel has not fully wilded yet, she is living her best life and maybe one day, when she is ready, she will lead her herd and her calf out into to wild forever. Time will tell.
Much love, Rox xx
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