Save the World: Save the Elephants
Last year while volunteering in Cape Town, I learned that two of the volunteers there also volunteered back home at local Zoos. This inspired me to looking into the Zoos around Dallas. While I really wanted to be involved with penguins, I really wanted to be in an environment where it would keep me around people interested in animals and conservation.
After a few meetings and a TB test, I was provided with my assignment of Elephant exhibit ambassador. This meant I would be around elephants for hours at a time, and I could still visit my penguin friends before and after my shift! Being around elephants so much influenced my decision for my volunteer trip in 2019.
I found Imire like I do most volunteer organizations, by using Google. Looking at the reviews closely there seemed to be consistency in the feedback from reviewers. The volunteers felt that the people there really cared about the elephants and rhinos and most felt it was the trip of a lifetime.
But, this isn’t a post about Imire, this is a post about elephants, so let’s talk about the elephants!
I would say and I think most people would agree that Makavhuzi, orMak or short, is the star of the show. A truly gentle giant at 11 feet tall and 43 years old he looks down at you with kind eyes and he gestures with his trunk for more pellets.
Mak was also very photogenic whether it was in his bomah, the corral where he would stay at night. Or while he was out in the 9,000 hectacre game park. He also had company with Mandeva the female elephant who was with most of the time, except when she decided to go her own during the day.
While Mak would be out in the game park, he loved to pull down branches from trees to eat. Elephants have 100,000 muscles in their trunks alone, for comparison humans have around 800 muscles. Elephants also love to eat tree branches, leaves and tree bark. This combination of food sources for elephants if often called “brows”.
At least once a week we walk with Mak and Mandeva back to the bohmah at the end of the day. We would find them out in the bush and the handlers would help guide them back home.
Below is a short video of one evening where we found them snacking on trees and walked back with them.
There is so much to write on Mak and Imire in Zimbabwe, but I really wanted to get some videos and pictures of Mak up to share with others. I’ll be writing more later.
