Ellies flourish at Zannier
The so-called Swakop or Christmas elephant, which surprised coastal residents and holidaymakers with its visit from the interior on Christmas Day 2019, is doing well.Dr Rudie van Vuuren of the N/a’an ku sê Foundation confirmed to Network Media Hub (NMH) that the wandering bull, which was later settled on the Zannier Game Reserve east of Windhoek, is doing excellently. The Christmas elephant, named Apollo, has now also acquired two younger, floppy-eared companions, Ace and Astro, to keep him company.
At the time, it was feared that the bull, with “wanderlust”, would run amok on the coast, be declared a problem animal and be euthanised. He was lured back to the interior by the then environment ministry with water and feed.
The bigfoot stayed in the Omaruru River for a while and was fitted with a satellite collar by a veterinarian from the ministry in mid-January 2020 to monitor its movements. The bull actually made a U-turn again and walked back to the sea a month later where it was spotted in the Swakop River near the Rössmund Golf Estate.
The Ministry of Environment and N/a’an ku sê, during a major relocation operation in April 2020, tranquilised the elephant near the golf estate and safely released it on the 7 500-hectare Zannier Game Reserve.
All relocation costs of approximately N$500 000, which included the construction of a boma, were covered by the Shiloh Wildlife Sanctuary in partnership with the N/a’an ku sê Foundation. The elephant was christened Apollo by Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, the Namibian-born daughter of famous actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
Meanwhile, two younger elephant bulls, Ace and Astro, have joined Apollo from N/a’an ku sê’s Timbila reserve, whom he is now training. Astro has grown so rapidly that his collar recently had to be replaced. He was sedated from a gyrocopter by the foundation’s veterinarian, Dr Maaike de Scheppers, and successfully fitted with a larger collar. – [email protected]