“I’ve heard you have a way with animals.                                                                               You’re right for them. Or maybe they are right for you.”                                     – Call for help from an elephant welfare organisation

In 1999, Lawrence Anthony received a call for help in rescuing a herd of nine wild elephants from their execution. These elephants were instructed to be shot to death as they had wrecked havoc across Kwa-Zulu-Natal and were exhibiting dangerous misbehavior. These included trampling and breaking out of every enclosure they have been put into, as well as charging at the sight of humans.

Due to the threat that they had posed to the crops and the people, it seemed as if they were destined to die. Moreover, Anthony had not even considered taking in elephants for his Thula Thula game reserve in the first place! Just as all hope seemed lost, Anthony decided to go against his initial plans and was ready to take the elephants home. He had worked tirelessly with his reserve rangers and local Zulus to set up an enclosure with electric fences and to prepare the grounds for the elephants’ containment.

                      “He stared at us, flared his ears and with a trumpet of rage,                                                           charged, pulling up just short of the fence in front of us.”                                   – Anthony writes of the initial response of the remaining son of the dead mother elephant

However, while he was eager to protect them in Thula Thula, the enthusiasm was not reciprocated by the herd of wild elephants initially. Before their arrival at the reserve, two elephants were tragically executed; a mother and her baby. Their deaths traumatized and angered the remaining elephants so greatly, to the point that Nana, the herd’s matriarch, willingly took on 8000 volts of electricity from the electric fences just to break her family out. Breaking out also exposed the elephants to execution by locals and wildlife authorities where they deemed it to be fair game since the elephants have acted dangerously once again. Thus, Anthony was given the ultimatum: if the elephants were to escape again, all will die.

                        “Stay here. I will be here with you and it’s a good place.”                                              – Anthony persuades Nana from a second breakout with a calm, reassuring tone.

Anthony thus started his journey by patiently living with the herd day and night to win the elephants’ trust and ultimately save their lives. To do so, he first viewed them as simply delinquents that needed to be understood and taught. He directed most of his attention to Nana, hoping that she would be a major source of influence over the other elephants. To get them used to his presence and hopefully humans in the future, Anthony stayed out in the reserve, sleeping in his jeep. Along with the use of his body language and the tone of his voice, he was gradually accepted by the herd. Throughout this reaching out process, he was also courageous enough to not run away from their mock charges, thus also earning the respect and trust of the wild elephants.

After a long period of rehabilitation, the herd was finally allowed out into the reserve. They would even come to visit Anthony’s house whenever he comes back from a business trip to welcome him. The bond between Anthony and the herd of elephants is evidently strong as it was created through moments of hardships and empathy. This earned him the term “The Elephant Whisperer”. After this incident, his reputation grew and he continued taking in troubled elephants which then went on to create families of their own. The initial herd of seven has now become twenty-nine!

At his passing, the elephants he protected came on their own to his house to pay homage. This was a remarkable show of how their bond transcended death. More details can be found here.

For more personal recounts, you can also check out his book “The Elephant Whisperer” or watch the following video: