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JOY

Until today, Joy is the last Ugab River desert calf that survived.

She is the daughter of Mathilda, who is the matriarch of Mama Afrika. She is very special to us and here is why:

It was an uncomfortably misty and cold morning in July 2014 when EHRA’s team was out on elephant patrol in the Ugab River. On such days the tracks are very hard to spot as there is no sun that can create shade that would give away the footprints. Everything looks the same. Old tracks melt into fresh ones and we could drive straight past the fresh spoor and miss important clues.

From what we saw, it seemed that the elephants were walking in circles. Finally, the patrol leader Chris encouraged everyone to get off the vehicles and start climbing a kopjie. He had the feeling that the elephants must be close by and we might spot them from the top. Everyone had their binoculars out and searched the landscape from the top of the hill. We had a 360° view. After a while someone pointed to the distance trees: “Hey, I can see something! I think it’s the elephants!” And indeed, there they were. But something was wrong. All of a sudden, virtually out of the middle of nowhere, the herd appeared and was walking very fast towards the hill. But they weren’t walking, they were running! And then the team heard trumpeting and excited rumbling. The herd seemed troubled. It can be very intimidating to witness a troubled herd. Mama Afrika lead her herd in full speed towards the hill. Chris spotted a big elephant in the back which looked like a bull. All eyes went to the large animal at the back of the herd. But then something strange happened... The herd started to run in circles around the big elephant! And finally, we saw something tiny emerging from the back of its hind leg – a tiny calf. Whilst some volunteers were wondering what the bull was doing with the calf, Chris shouted excitedly: “It’s not a bull! It’s Mathilda! She had a baby! Oh, well done Mathilda!” Mathilda is a massive animal, her forehead is huge and extremely broad. It’s easy to mistake her for a bull if she is far away. The calf seemed even smaller compared to her massive body. She approached the rest of the herd calmly. The calf was still rather unsteady on its legs and wobbled cautiously on Mathilda’s side. The rest of the herd was still excited, still trumpeting, still rumbling. They were encircling Mathilda and her baby. And all of a sudden silence fell. Time stood still. Slowly, the elephants extended their trunks and carefully touched the new family member, taking in her smell.

And then, as if nothing happened, everyone went back to their everyday business, started to feed and walk on. The herd went in single file toward a large open grass plain. The tough life of a desert-adapted elephant began for this tiny creature.

The team observed the calf over the next few days and quickly realized that she was not afraid to tumble about, play with her big cousins and run between the big long legs of the adults. She was constantly running and chasing birds. We named her Joy –a name that could not have been better chosen.

Only later did we realize how unbelievably special it was to witness such an intimate moment. We witnessed an elephant ceremony that welcomed a new member and celebrated new life. Not unlike us...

Today, Joy is almost 6 years old, she is still happy and healthy.

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