On Tuesday 16 February, The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) took custody of a young baby elephant bull. He had been found after falling into a Holding Dam at Phalabora Copper, a mine in Limpopo.

Said Mike Kendrick (https://mikekendrick.exposure.co/elephant-rescue), "A couple of people from Electrical Services at Phalabora Copper, Limpopo had reported the stranded calf to the Wildlife Supervisor, Johann McDonald. Inspection of the dam revealed numerous scuff marks from elephants trying to bend down to rescue the calf, which were still visible. Johann thought that the elephants left the area around 5h00-6h00 when human activity around the mine usually begins to increase. Elephants form such strong family and maternal bonds that one can only imagine how distressed the baby, its mother and the herd must have been. Johann and his team got the baby out of the water and loaded him onto the back of a pick-up truck to try and reintroduce him to the breeding herds which were still in the vicinity.

Twice they tried reintroducing him with the first herd's matriarch pushing him off his feet. It was now around midday and the little calf began looking weak and in need of rehydration. In quick response to the emergency call, the Elephants Alive team met Johann and the calf at the gate of Phalaborwa Copper."

Dr. Michelle Henley and the team from Elephants Alive rushed him to the safety of HESC, where Dr. Rogers' team was on site to rehydrate him, and oversee his recovery from the trauma and severe heat that he was exposed to over the course of the day. The tiny animal's name is Amanzi, which means water in Zulu.

 Amanzi took his first 750ml bottle of milk formula at 5am on Wednesday 17 February, and has since taken full bottles of 900ml at 2 hour intervals. While this is good news, it is also a critical time as it is important to get the balance in his formula right. The most immediate threat to the baby is diarrhoea, so we are all praying furiously that the formula is compatible with his very young system.

 Stavros and Liverson, two senior elephant grooms from Camp Jabulani, are taking shifts with Amanzi while HESC's curators see to his frequent milk feeds. Stavros stayed with him over the course of his first night, which included making his thumb available for the unsettled youngster to suck! This seemed to settle him somewhat, and also got him used to the taste of the formula (which Stavros cleverly dipped his finger into before soothing the elephant).

 At his first weigh in, the young pachyderm clocked in at 114kgs.

At this point it is impossible to predict an outcome. The stress and trauma that the baby has suffered are immense, and every minute counts. We need to keep him calm, and to ensure that as few people come into contact with him as possible. Dr Rogers' team is monitoring his condition continuously.

This is a bittersweet time for us at HESC, as we remember only too well when another tiny baby elephant arrived at the centre over 10 years ago. His story was almost identical to this one. He thankfully pulled through to become a magnificent and healthy animal, and is the namesake of the Camp Jabulani elephant herd.

There are no concrete plans at this point for the baby's future, as the priority is to stabilize him. The ideal situation would be to introduce to the Camp Jabulani herd on the Kapama Reserve, where he would have the opportunity to interact with other young elephants, in the maternal care of established matriarchs.

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