Jabulani

Rambo and Rachel were the only two baby elephant survivors of a herd of elephants that were part of a culling program in 1980s (in which a whole herd was killed).The very person who was ordered to kill them just couldn’t face shooting these beautiful innocent elephants and decided to find a place, where they could continue to live. They now have 220 square kilometres of bushland in KwaZulu Natal to roam around.

Rambo and Rachel created an incredible bond with two keepers, who now serve as part of their herd – and the two keepers are probably the only reason why they survived the trauma of losing their entire elephant family. Rambo and Rachel had a child in 2010, Jabulani, who was growing up to be an equally gentle elephant.

We count ourselves very luck to have been able to meet these gentle, calm and majestic elephants before a tragedy struck. In August 2019 we have received an extremely sudden and upsetting news that Jabulani had suffered a fatal heart attack at the mere age of 9, suspected to be caused by an existing heart condition. His parents are suffering immensely and are not sure to survive this loss.

Photo credit: Tessa Gerlach