Morula Giving Tuesday!

Following the tragic death of elephant specialist, Douglas Groves, his partner and Cofounder of LWE Sandi Groves, decided that the two elephants that were in their full-time care should be released back into the wild. After Doug’s death, the situation became unsustainable and Sandi was no longer able to manage both elephants on her own in the manner they were accustomed to. Hence the decision to follow through on her and Doug’s ultimate plan, to enable the elephants to roam free in the Okavango Delta.

This plan was designed and drafted using the input of several elephant experts, vets and, of course, Sandi, who has a life-time of experience and knowledge living with and managing these two elephants over the last 30 years.

Further tragedy struck when the death of Morula’s companion Jabu was reported in July 2021. It was not possible to ascertain the exact cause of death, due to the damage caused by scavengers. It was however noted that there was an injury to his spine above the tail area possibly caused in an altercation with a wild bull.

Since the death of Jabu, Morula has continued to feed in the vicinity of LWE’s now dismantled camp, as well as the nearby camp which is situated 1.6 km’s to the northwest. She has been sighted frequently in the company of sub adult bulls and breeding herds passing through the area. However, she has chosen to remain in her home grounds.

Although her re-integration progress has been encouraging, there are acute challenges. On the occasions when Morula feeds close to the neighboring camp, LWE’s elephant monitors use non-invasive mitigation techniques to redirect Morula’s movements if she ventures toward the boundary of Stanley’s. She is very responsive to this mitigation and simply moves away. (please see video) However, Morula frequently visits the camp at night or in the pre-light of dawn, making it possible for her to slip past our monitors and into the camp. This poses a significant risk to both Morula and the staff. An error of judgement or misinterpretation by either party could lead to disastrous consequences. Authorities in Botswana tend to err on the conservative side in situations assessed to be a threat human life.

We feel the erection of a simple electric fence around the working and staff areas of the nearby camp will help to keep Morula and the camp staff safe.

If you would like to assist in helping with Morula’s re-intergration, keeping her safe and foster harmonious human elephant relationships please donate using the link below.

https://withelephants.wedid.it

Видео Morula Giving Tuesday! канала Living With Elephants Foundation