An adult male wearing dark blue pants and black boots stands with two white buckets in a savanna setting, late afternoon or early evening under clear skies. 19:47
HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa channel icon HERD Elephant Orphanage South AfricaOriginal creator 51K views Save

A baby elephant named for sunshine

Khanyisa is very vocal this morning. Breakfast is on its way, and half the moon is still up in the sky over the bush. more

Adine, her caretaker, moves the milk to a new spot, and now the sun is on her. It suits her. Khanyisa means sunshine, Adine says. The first morning she came out of the orphanage she was pink, the sun was shining on her, and she looked like a little sunshine.

A person feeds an elephant from a bottle, standing beside a white bucket on grass under a blue sky. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Her milk is set out where the morning sun can reach her.

She gets three bottles of milk, four times a day, and she doesn't take her time with them. One viewer compared her to a champion beer drinker.

Weaning will go very slowly, Adine says. They're waiting on green grass and good rain, so the food she eats can make up for the milk they take away. They don't want her to lose condition. For now she still needs her bottles, and she loves them too.

An elephant walks through dry grass near trees under a bright sky. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The bush is still dry, so milk stays on the menu for now.

Then come the sweet potatoes. She cracks them with a loud crunch, and Adine reminds everyone how much power is in those jaws. Khanyisa has worked out a trick, too. If she sets a sweet potato down just so, it is easier to get at.

Apples follow, then pellets. Her tusks are coming in, Adine notes, and Khanyisa is right-handed. There's a wet patch by her ear, and Adine says that is excitement. She was waiting for that milk.

A person holds a bottle while an elephant uses her trunk to drink from it outdoors under a clear sky. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Milk is still the part of breakfast she loves.

Pisa, another member of the herd, sneaks in close, ever hopeful that Khanyisa will leave something behind. Given the way she eats, that's a brave hope.

She's not small anymore. The bottles that once looked huge next to her now look little, and she stands taller than the man who brings her food.

An adult male wearing dark blue pants and black boots stands with two white buckets in a savanna setting, late afternoon or early evening under clear skies. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Khanyisa is very vocal this morning.

There was a time when the team had to break her food up and help her eat. “Look at her now,” Adine says. Khanyisa is out in the bush, eating and browsing and “doing her elephant stuff.”

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