Our lively new rescue Matsaudi

Meet Matsaudi, a lively and adventurous baby elephant who was rescued in Matsaudi village, just 25 minutes from Elephant Havens.

This spunky little girl was just a year old when her life took a dramatic turn. Her mother was involved in a human-elephant conflict with a nearby farmer, leaving Matsaudi orphaned and vulnerable.

Fortunately, in the case of Matsaudi, our co-founder, Boago “Bee” Poloko, heard a commotion from his house. He went outside to find people and dogs from the community chasing this young helpless baby away. With the help of the Department of Wildlife, we responded very quickly and Matsaudi was rescued and brought to safety.

Despite the traumatic experience, Matsaudi is a high-energy baby, thriving on her milk bottles and lovingly playing the role of a big sister to our little Joy. (Joy has so many big sisters now, it’s an embarrassment of riches for her!)

Matsaudi’s story highlights the challenges faced by elephants in the wild as well as in and around communities. But it also showcases the incredible work being done at Elephant Havens to protect and care for these gentle giants.

Human-elephant conflict is something we are always trying to diminish. Many times it’s about food and crops. We’ve worked with some local farmers to plant their crops in a single large area, and helped them with fencing to keep wildlife out of there. Educating the community about elephant behavior can also help people distinguish when an elephant is angry and dangerous or, if left alone, will peacefully wander away from the area. But there are times when elephants don’t get the message and do end up trampling a family’s food source, or may be wounded and uncontrollable, and humans must react to protect themselves. Conflicts happen when two species are trying to co-exist in the same place, after all.

We’re grateful to have lively little Matsaudi in our herd and look forward to watching her grow and flourish.

You can help support Matsaudi’s health and care by fostering her.