After months of uncertainty over his fate, the orphaned elephant’s future is now secure
Fiona Macleod
KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife authorities have given the go-ahead for the return of Sahib, the mighty African elephant bull who has been bullied and abused in a German circus for 18 years.
When he comes home, he will be known as Mayibuye (it must return) the name he has been given by the Zulu amakhosi who took pity on the orphaned elephant in exile in Europe.
The chiefs and their communities, who are setting up the Royal Zulu Reserve near Empangeni, offered to rescue Mayibuye after they read about his desperate plight in the Mail & Guardian in March. They insisted he should be given the chance to live the rest of his life in dignity in the place of his birth.
Nokwethemba Biyela, a driving force behind the Royal Zulu project, says there was great jubilation when the communities were told by the wildlife authorities this week that their application had been successful.
“The amakhosi have identified a place at the heart of the Royal Zulu Reserve where he will stay. Now we will start preparing to make sure he feels safe in his home,” she says.
Mayibuye was sold to the German circus when he was orphaned at the age of two during a cull in a Zimbabwean reserve. He was one of hundreds of African elephants exported overseas during the height of culling operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe from the early 1970s to mid-1980s.
Now 20 years old, he is a magnificent creature with huge tusks. As captive elephants tend to become rebellious when they get older, he has been kept in chains for the past two years. Elephants can live to the age of 60 or 70 years.
The plan to bring Mayibuye home was hatched when his trainer announced last year that he wanted to retire. The circus owners said they wanted to get rid of the elephant, even if this meant shooting him.
Northern Province conservation officials refused to allow him to go to a wildlife sanctuary in that province, on the basis that this “would not contribute significantly to elephant conservation”.
But Biyela says his return will be a catalyst for the future of conservation around the Royal Zulu.”We have more than 100 schools here and for most of the children this will be the first time they see an elephant. Now they have the chance to learn about the relationship between the animals and human beings.”
Mayibuye will be homed in a fenced-off sanctuary of 100ha and KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife will help monitor his progress. Elephant experts say “rebellious” captive elephants soon calm down and live out normal lives after they have been released into large, open areas.
The Born Free Foundation, a United Kingdom-based animal welfare organisation, has offered to foot the bill for Mayibuye’s return.
For Rozanne Savory, co-founder of the South African Ethical Conservation Network, who has been brokering his return, Mayibuye’s ticket home marks a new milestone in local conservation efforts.
“It is a breakthrough for a more humanitarian approach to wildlife. It also shows the authorities are taking note of the wishes of ordinary communities committed to conservation,” she says.
@Celebrations for elephants’ return
Nelson Mandela and Deputy President Jacob Zuma are among the VIPs due to celebrate the return of wild elephants to the
St Lucia World Heritage Site on Friday, August 10.
It will be the first time in 80 years that elephants roam St Lucia, along the north-east coast of KwaZulu-Natal. The last elephant in the area was shot by hunters in the Umfolozi Swamp.
About 35 elephants from KwaZulu-Natal provincial reserves will be relocated to the site this year. The return of the elephants to St Lucia is part of a major push for tourism and conservation development along the Lubombo spatial development initiative (SDI).
“The move will make St Lucia one of the only places in the world where you are able to see the largest animals on land (elephants), the largest marine mammals (whales) and the oldest mammals on Earth (rhinos), all within five minutes of each other,” says Andrew Zaloumis, manager
of the SDI.