Herd USA

The unusual family structure of the Jabulani herd that are largely orphans themselves presents a unique solution for orphaned elephants in South Africa that vitally need a second herd to ensure their emotional wellbeing and survival.
Together with our highly-experienced elephant carers, we can provide a safe and regulated reintegration process for the calves. We monitor their growth and development within their new herd, while documenting and recording invaluable data for research for the species.
In time, with the anticipated increase in the Jabulani herd’s numbers, we suspect that they may naturally split into two separate herds, as wild elephants do. Once that happens, given the right conditions and environment that will enhance their current wellbeing, the next step would be to integrate then into a separate and secure wildlife reserve.
Elephants are highly intelligent and emotional species, and the impact of forcing a division of their herd would have a severe impact on their emotional wellbeing. Our approved management plan allows us to adjust and improve under the guidance of our respected elephant advisors, as unknowns become clear.

1. To recognise and accept the responsibility for taking care of animals on behalf of broader society, and to acknowledge society’s wish for and expectation of the protection and enhancement of vulnerable animals’ quality of life, which is planned and sustained for their full lives.
2. To provide a safe rehabilitation alternative for elephant orphans that prioritises the long-term well-being of the elephants.
3. To provide a protected and supportive environment for the rescued Jabulani herd that promotes and enhances their overall well-being through rewilding (as much as possible) and understanding the ongoing need to provide direct care and supervision for their lifetime.
4. To take advantage of the availability of a habituated wild elephant herd, the Jabulani herd, which provides a stable and controlled environment and elephant social system into which orphan elephants can be reintegrated for their enhanced lifetime wellbeing.
5. To reintegrate the orphans into the habituated Jabulani elephant herd and/or other appropriate rehabilitation options that may become available in the future.
6. To establish a strategy and long-term plan for elephant rehabilitation through rewilding that includes ways to mitigate the long-term chronic stress of releasing elephants directly into the wild when, as orphans, they don’t have a proper social structure. The focus is on building the orphans’ ability to deal with a wild system independently, in such a way that allows them to develop that capacity at a reasonable pace, and within a stable and nurturing system. Thus, the rewilding of captive elephants that takes elephant biology and local context into account.
7. To base our processes and procedures on the best available evidence and expertise, find innovative solutions to the challenges faced to enhance the elephants’well-being, and, thereby, be the go-to entity in South Africa to rehabilitate orphan elephants.

When a rescued orphan arrives at the orphanage, it is traumatised and in many cases starving, dehydrated, sunburnt and possibly injured. Because of their high intelligence and complexity, elephant orphans are very different to other wild animals. Their needs are diverse and nuanced and require a special kind of management, one with heart, soul and respect in addition to milk and medicine.
ELEPHANT CARERS
HERD has a sizable team of dedicated elephant carers, who assist in 24-hour-shifts to ensure that the orphans are never alone. The carers are the sole nurturers until the new orphans are strong enough to join the other elephant orphans and then the Jabulani herd. Consistency of this core team is crucial, as the second loss of a ‘herd’ member can be extremely traumatic and can bring on a sudden change in an orphan’s health. Our carers play a significant role in the nurturing of the orphans with sustenance, healthcare, love, support, motivation and guidance.
STIMULATION
A stable sleep pattern and routine are essential for the calves’ wellbeing, as is stimulation - using toys, rubbing posts, frequent mud baths and exercise. Our carers make use of the natural environment to enhance and strengthen the orphans’ natural instincts such as through sand-dusting and trunk exercises.
FAMILY
With elephants’ complex social systems, they receive immense value from a family structure. The discipline and peer support created by the herd benefits not only the orphan introduced to its new herd, but also the wellbeing of the herd by allowing them to ‘show’ and to fulfil their maternal instincts and dynamic socialisation by adopting the new calves.
TEAMWORK
In addition to the people on the ground, we have a team who don’t deal with the day-to-day caring of the elephants and help to strengthen our operation, and form part of our back-of-house. These individuals manage financials, media and communications and fund raising and are part of the management plan.
FUNDING
Monetary funding is crucial for the daily operations of the orphanage during orphans’ critical formative years, as well as the potential long term financial impact of caring for a fully grown elephant if reintegration into the wild is not feasible. These potential reintegration projects would include the need for new land which will add additional costs to HERD operations.
MILK
A baby elephant’s milk formulation is exceptionally delicate and needs frequent adjustment, with extra nutritional supplements as they grow, as their mother’s milk would change naturally through the weaning stages and evolving needs. The gut of a baby elephant is extremely sensitive. When an orphan has diarrhea, it has a ripple effect. It starts by impacting their gut lining, which in turn changes their energy levels, impacting their emotional wellbeing. They can move from hero to zero in a short period. Daily records of their feeding and bathroom habits are essential so to monitor whether they are excreting or urinating more than wh