An adult elephant and antelopes amidst dry savanna landscape with sparse trees and rolling hills under bright daylight. 4:12
HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa channel icon HERD Elephant Orphanage South AfricaOriginal creator 3.4M views Save

Elephant herd runs to welcome an orphan calf

Orphan baby elephant Khanyisa goes out into the bush to meet the Jabulani herd, and the herd doesn't wait to be introduced. more

It gets loud fast. The big elephants trumpet and roar, lift their heads and flare their ears, and the glands on the sides of their heads leak fluid. Klaserie, Bubi and Setombe are the first to run to her, and the rest of the herd is right behind them.

An elephant with tusks and a raised trunk stands among tree branches under a clear blue sky. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The adults trumpet and raise their heads as the new calf arrives.

Even Fishan comes. He has trouble getting around, and he joins the welcome anyway. One fan calls him a walking miracle.

Then the circle closes. The adults press in around Khanyisa from every side until the little calf nearly disappears among their legs. Somebody described it as a fortress that nobody can enter or see into.

An adult elephant and antelopes amidst dry savanna landscape with sparse trees and rolling hills under bright daylight. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Orphan baby elephant Khanyisa goes out into the bush to meet the Jabulani herd, and the herd doesn't wait to be introduced.

What gets people most is how careful they are. In all that rushing, the huge bodies seem to know exactly where she is, and no one steps on her or scares her. Khanyisa backs right up into the middle of them.

Then one of the elephants up front kicks a spray of dirt toward the people. Viewers have had fun with that moment, and the favorite reading is that the herd is telling the humans they will take it from here.

An elephant stands under a leafless tree against a clear blue sky. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
With the calf safe in the middle, the big elephants make it clear she belongs to them now.

HERD, short for Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development, runs South Africa's first orphanage just for elephants. The whole idea is that orphans like Khanyisa find a new family inside the herd that is already there. The neatest summary came from a fan. People say it takes a village, and elephants only need a herd.

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