The Elephant Whisperer: My Life With the Herd in the African Wild by Lawrence Anthony (the ebook reader txt) 📕

Through one senseless violent act, Mnumzane had made himself an outcast … an untouchable. I now couldn’t keep him; nor could I give him away for love or money. Who would want an elephant that killed rhino just for the hell of it? On most game reserves an owner in my position would immediately set up a hunt and end the problem there and then.

‘No,’ I said trying to reassure myself. ‘We’re not going to shoot him. But we really have a bloody big problem on our hands.’

I paused, trying to get my head around it all. ‘Let’s unpick this slowly. Firstly Heidi will be fine, she’s big enough to survive without a mother and she will herd with the other rhinos.’

‘Secondly we have to retrieve the horns,’ interrupted David. ‘The word will get out and they’re too much of a temptation for poachers. I’ll get the men and we’ll cut them out, clean them and put them in the safe.’

I nodded. ‘Good thinking. I’ll phone Wildlife and let them know what happened. They’re not going to be too happy with the way she died but I’ll speak to them about that as well. The carcass will stay here and there’ll be plenty of hyena and vulture activity for guests.’

David started to say something, then paused. ‘Boss …’ again almost whispering, ‘you’re sure we’re not going to shoot Mnumzane?’

The million-dollar question. One I didn’t have an answerfor, so I decided to wing it. ‘I’ll go and find him and see what I can do. I need to spend time with him and try to work something out.’

David looked at me, unconvinced, but it was the best I could come up with. We both stood and took a long hard look at the hulking grey carcass and then left in different directions. He was going to get the team to dehorn the once-magnificent creature. I was going to have a serious chat with Mnumzane.

As we left I saw the calf trot out of the thicket she had been hiding in and stand vigil over her valiant dead mother. Mnumzane had really messed things up big time.

It was another hour and a half before I found him browsing near the Gwala Gwala dam. I approached slowly, pulled up about thirty-five yards away, got out and leaned on the Land Rover’s hood unsheathing my binoculars. I didn’t call him, but he knew full well I was there. Instead he chose to ignore me and continue grazing which is exactly what I wanted. A swift scan of his body with the binoculars showed the scars of battle.

Congealed blood revealed he had been gored in the chest and there were deep grazes and scrapes on both his flanks. This had not been a brief encounter; the battle had been fierce and long, probably only because he was not used to fighting. A veteran brawler of his size would have ended it with one thundering charge.

There also must have been plenty of opportunities for the rhino to escape, but with a calf, that word was absent from her dictionary. She held her ground as her gallant species always do and paid the highest price for her stubbornness.

Eventually he finished eating and looked at me.

‘Mnumzane!’ I called out sharply, focusing on connotation and intonation rather than volume. ‘Have you any idea of what you have done, you bloody fool?’

I had never used that furious tone with him before. Ineeded him to understand I was extremely angry about the death of the rhino.

‘This is a big problem, for you, for me, and for everyone. What the hell got into you?’

He stood motionless as I berated him, his stare static and it was only after I drove off that I saw him move away.

From then on I tracked him daily, staying near him as much as possible, but if he approached I deliberately drove off. I could see that bugged him.

Then through extreme good fortune I found him near the scene of the crime. I immediately drove to the rotting remains of the rhino still festering on the ground and making sure I was upwind of the intolerable smell and in a good getaway position, I gently called him.

Obviously pleased to hear my usual genial tone of voice again, he ambled over towards me. I let him keep coming until he was right at the kill, and then leaned out the window and lambasted him in a firm and steady voice, stopping only when he uncharacteristically turned and walked off in the opposite direction.

There are those who will say that all of this is nonsense; that of course elephants don’t understand … that I was wasting my time. But I believe Mnumzane got the message. He never hassled another rhino again, let alone killed one. Our relationship returned to normal and Mnumzane would again emerge for a chat in the bush again, like in the old days.

He even, on occasion, came up to the house to say hello and there was no one more relieved than David.

Shortly afterwards David knocked on my door, looking a little doleful.

‘Can I come in, boss?’

‘Sure. What’s up?’

‘My mum and dad are leaving the country. They’re going to England. Emigrating.’

You could’ve knocked me over with a twig. David’s family came from pioneer Zululand stock and were well respected throughout the area. This must have been a big decision for them.

David noticed my astonishment and smiled, almost embarrassedly.

‘That’s not all. I’m going with them.’

This time I nearly did fall over. If I couldn’t visualize David’s family in England, I could do so even less with him. He was a man of the bush – something of which there is precious short supply in England. The wild was his element.

‘You’re sure it’s not khaki fever again?’ I asked smiling, remembering the last time he had left us was for a pretty English tourist who fancied hunky game rangers. That only lasted a month or so before he