After Phabeni the orphaned baby ellie was adopted by his new elephant mom, things have only gone up for the little bull who is now getting to spend time in the wild with his new elephant family!
South Africa (14 March 2024) — A happy update from HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development) has supporters of Phabeni, the little orphaned ellie, and his new elephant family feeling absolutely thrilled.
In our last update, we shared a significant moment from HERD in which the growing baby bull Phabeni was adopted by none other than Setombe, the oldest elephant and local head disciplinarian at HERD.
Setombe has never been known to take to the elephant orphans in the way she did to Phabeni. This marked the first time she had ever taken a baby on as her own—a historic moment for the HERD team.
In the following weeks, Setombe and Phabeni’s bond has only grown stronger, meaning that the little bull is in a very comfortable position to start integrating into the wild!
The move from the orphanage to the bush is a milestone moment for an orphan at HERD. Phabeni now takes milk bottles in the wild, surrounded by his new elephant family and adopted mom, and takes on full-day walks with them.
Considering Phabeni was only welcomed to HERD in November, the move to this stage of his journey is nothing short of incredible. Many other orphaned elephants can take much longer to get to full-day walks, like Khanyisa who had wounds to overcome.
Phabeni getting used to the wild side at an early stage is a very good thing both for his own development and a more natural integration with his herd.
But, Mama Setombe keeps a close eye on her adopted-bull and is said to have showcased a new side of nurturing the team has never seen from her apart from her relationship with her birth-daughter Klaserie.
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