A Guided Walk with Adine as Khanyisa & the Whole Elephant Herd Go Foraging

In this new video Adine takes you out on a walk with the herd, explaining different details from the behind the scenes to the elephants’ incredible and complex behaviours and feeding styles!

We really hope that our videos not only entertain and inspire people about nature and the elephant species but also educate and enlighten. We still learn new things about these animals and are amazed to watch them foraging, bonding, roaming, swimming and displaying the true sensitivity and intelligence of their species each day.

Our main objective at HERD remains caring for the elephants who have been displaced or orphaned but sharing their stories and adventures with you helps to grow our beautiful community of elephant lovers and custodians.

If you’d like to discover more you can read our blogs covering elephant anatomy and social structures and other fascinating topics — https://herd.org.za/blog/

What stands out the most from today’s video? We quite enjoyed watching Timisa putting her little feet to work to dig up bulbs and roots. The elephants’ activities change across the seasons and while there is little grass available in the bush, there is plenty of nutritious underground vegetation as well as bark to be munched on. Root plants provide a lot of nourishment and Timisa, Zindoga and Kumbura all show their willingness to put in the work for the ultimate goal.

Although the elephants have the support of the herd, each elephant takes care of itself when it comes to feeding and they can even get a little possessive around good digging spots, as you see with Timisa’s back kick to Khanyisa!

The matriarch (Tokwe) or other “leader” elephants will direct the herd to good grazing areas or waterholes, thereby helping the whole family. Often the herd will feed from the same fallen tree or around the same still standing tree especially in the case of the green throb and marula trees, which they love.

With the rescued herd the Carers also help guide toward good foraging areas in the reserve, making sure to give certain areas of the wilderness a chance to recover and regrow, to avoid overgrazed areas, considering there are many other animals relying on the bush here for their sustenance, including wild elephants.