Like a story straight out of a Disney movie, this little innocent baby elephant – completely rare in her colour – was found severely injured and alone. Her situation was incredibly dire and her future was uncertain. But with a lot of care from humans, and love from a herd of orphaned elephants, Khanyisa is growing from strength to strength.
Hoedspruit, South Africa (07 August 2021) – As South Africa’s famous rare albino elephant orphan, Khanyisa, turns two years old in September this year, the country has been looking forward to a new milestone presenting itself, and little by little it has: Khanyisa’s tusks are starting to show!
Having seen Khanyisa come into HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development), as a suffering four-month-old snare victim in January 2020, with severe wounds around her cheeks and head, everyone is incredibly moved to see that her scars have healed and her tusks are emerging, a great show of strength. Khanyisa has a lot to get through as an orphan calf, but this milestone is a great show of success and perseverance for her and the HERD team.
While the team could feel the beginnings of her tusks as hard bulges beside her mouth in August 2020, Khanyisa’s tusks are now visible.
“She was clearly growing them in secret for some time. It only became clear to us that they were growing out when she started to rub the sides of her mouth on hard surfaces, such as the wooden poles in the nursery, more and more. She would and continues to even rub her tusks against her team of dedicated elephant carers. The two hard protrusions on either side of her mouth are black at the base and white-yellow at the tip, with about half a thumb of tusk visible externally.”
Adine Roode, Founder of HERD, South Africa’s first dedicated elephant orphanage, administers regular check-ups on the albino calf in their care and also spotted the tiny tusks poking out of their sockets as Khanyisa lifted her head when drinking milk bottles at the orphanage or in the reserve with the bigger elephants.
A baby elephant will start to grow tusks at around two years of age, sometimes a little before, sometimes a little after. It is believed that the growth of the tusks doesn’t cause calves too much irritation or discomfort, nothing like with teething with their molars when they are still around a month old. As long as the tusks grow through what is called the tusk ‘pocket’, the calf will get through the milestone unscathed.
It does seem that little Khanyisa is intrigued by her little tusks. Rubbing them against surfaces could be a matter of curiosity and discovering her changing self. She seems to gain comfort from our care team rubbing her tusks for her too.
The African elephant requires up to 300 kilograms of leaves, grasses, bark and fruit every day, but this herbivore diet is often low in nutrients and minerals and in order to supplement their diet, they eat soil, clay and rock. Scraping and digging with their tusks enables them to obtain materials that aid digestion and are essential in pregnant cows.
Khanyisa’s growing tusks will help her to feed herself in the wilderness better as she forages in the bush alongside her adoptive herd, the rescued Jabulani elephants.
Especially as the seasons’ change and winter takes hold, there is less lush green grass to be devoured in the reserve, and elephants turn to bark, bulbs and roots. Khanyisa is about to learn even more from her herd as she discovers life through tiny tusker eyes.
“We are immensely grateful for the hard work, long hours and dedication of our Care Team who helped get Khanyisa to this new milestone, and to all our sponsors, fosters, donors and supporters for contributing to the extensive ongoing costs of not only feeding a growing baby elephant, but also keeping her safe and warm with her elephant family.”
Sources: HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development)
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