Two elephants, adult with large ears and raised trunk, juvenile standing close by in a savanna setting at late afternoon light. 10:40
HERD Elephant Orphanage South Africa channel icon HERD Elephant Orphanage South AfricaOriginal creator 33K views Save

An albino baby elephant and her bear-hug nanny

Khanyisa, an albino baby elephant, spends the afternoon grazing in the South African bush. The elephant minding her, Klaserie, never wanders far. more

Khanyisa's trunk isn't strong yet, so she cannot tear up much on her own. She grazes on green grass and small trees. She also eats the branches, bark and bulbs the older elephants have already pulled loose.

An elephant stands among trees under a clear blue sky with its trunk curled near its mouth. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Grazing among the trees, where the older elephants do the hard pulling.

She came to HERD, an elephant orphanage in South Africa, as a rescue. Adine Roode, who started the orphanage, took her in, and the calf was brought into the Jabulani herd a little at a time. The herd took her as one of its own. Since then, other females have helped raise her as allomothers, which is a long word for nannies.

On this afternoon the job belongs to Klaserie, and she knows what good care looks like. Her mother, Setombe, was an orphan, yet she raised Klaserie as a safe and sheltered calf. Fans of the herd love that part. The care Setombe gave her daughter is now being handed on to a new baby.

Two elephants, adult with large ears and raised trunk, juvenile standing close by in a savanna setting at late afternoon light. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Khanyisa, an albino baby elephant, spends the afternoon grazing in the South African bush.

Klaserie stays at Khanyisa's side while she feeds. She's not always gentle about it. She can get a bit too keen and forget how big and strong she is.

People who follow the herd have noticed. Klaserie gives big bear hugs, they say, and lots of them.

Two elephants stand close together in bright sunlight, their wrinkled skin and large ears in view. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Klaserie keeps close, sometimes closer than a small calf needs.

Elephant calves are a lot like human babies. They have to learn everything from scratch, so the herd around Khanyisa matters a great deal. And while Klaserie takes her turn as nanny, the other elephants get the afternoon off.

#elephants