The Intricacies of Caring for a Baby Elephant! - An Update on Khanyisa's Weight

A Blog by Adine Roode, Founder of HERD...

IMPORTANT FULL BLOG FROM ADINE HERE: https://herd.org.za/the-intricacies-of-caring-for-a-baby-elephant-an-update-on-khanyisas-weight/

While we continue to monitor Khanyisa's changes as a growing baby elephant, we are happy and relieved to say that Khanyisa is now toppling the scale again - around 294 kilograms.

When there is lack of certainty, we always reach out to our valued experts and doctors to assist and give us some clarity and a solution before communicating news, but we hope that this information provides you with a greater understanding.

You might have noticed Khanyisa getting very tall lately! It’s always more visible when you see her beside a human rather than another much larger elephant. Sunshine not only grew some long and lean legs before our eyes but she is filling out nicely now too.

But a lot has been going on behind the scenes while Khanyisa is growing up and spending time out in the bush. Our team carries out daily checks on the little calf and sometimes it's necessary to get extra assistance and opinions from our advisors to touch base on the various aspects of caring for the orphan and the running of HERD.

We found that Khanyisa was lagging a bit in her weight and took blood tests recently to see if there were any issues we weren’t aware of. The results showed low iron but nothing else, thankfully. So we have adjusted her milk formula to provide more of the nutrition that her growing body needs as it changes.

Especially as Khanyisa was approaching a year old, it was necessary to alter and make changes to her milk supplement. As per a research article published, there are strong changes in the milk composition of lactation more or less up to 12 months and then little changes after this. However, with Khanyisa, we are entering a trial period of phasing out the amino-acid and hydrolysed milk supplement to give her a higher casein protein-based diet. With these changes, Khanyisa didn’t really gain weight, but was also not losing weight. But I was concerned that we were not on track.

In order to confirm if everything was well with Khanyisa, we required bloods and stools to be analysed by the laboratory. I turned to Dr Rogers for assistance for the next step to sedate her and take samples.

We started early in the morning as I didn’t want to change too much in the daily routine as the Jabulani herd will be stressed out if Khanyisa doesn’t join, and also because of the heat, it is better to do these procedures early morning when it is cooler. We used a standing sedation with BAM, which has very little negative impact.

We filled a few bottles. I fetched some tubes from the lab and Dr Rogers brought some too. We requested Pre-Albumin, Total Protein, Plus liver functions K, Ca, Ureum, Magnesium, P and full U&E for Bicarb and anion gap etc. Dr Rogers also took the opportunity to give Khanyisa extra minerals intramuscular and intravenously. The sedation is always stressful, and we were relieved when it was done. It was quick yet felt like ages.

When Khanyisa was waking up, she rumbled and the whole herd came towards the nursery. They waited in the stables and would not move away. Their eyes were fixed on her. I could see the cows stressing and even Sebakwe was unhappy. She was not completely stable on her legs, but rushed off in their direction. I had to make a call and Dr Rogers agreed that we could let her join the herd, but keep an eye on her.

It took 3 days for the first results to arrive. The urea was high and we did a dipstick test – which came out all normal. We waited for the last test results. It seemed she was slightly anaemic. It was not life-threatening, but can cause poor growth and is also an indication of malabsorption. It can be treated either by iron supplementation or blood transfusion.

An iron supplement is always my first choice. We started with an intramuscular iron injection to treat iron deficiency and added an iron supplement to Khanyisa's daily milk to make sure that her iron stores were sufficient. It usually takes 6 weeks to make the extra blood and we would then need to take blood again to see if she was still anaemic.

I spoke to Dr Johan Marais and we went through possible reasons for Khanyisa being anaemic and having an iron deficiency. In rhinos, you often get ulcers and we decided to also put Khanyisa on a course to treat and prevent ulcers.

She is gaining weight again. It might have been a growth spurt, and she got taller and leaner, without gaining weight. She is certainly growing tall now and filling out beautifully finally, but we will be sure to update you with more news. Thank you for your amazing love, support and engagement throughout this journey with us!

FULL BLOG FROM ADINE HERE: https://herd.org.za/the-intricacies-of-caring-for-a-baby-elephant-an-update-on-khanyisas-weight/

Видео The Intricacies of Caring for a Baby Elephant! - An Update on Khanyisa's Weight канала HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa