When she was 15 months old, on November 10, 2016, she was taken by helicopter from the Shaba National Reserve, where poachers shot her mother dead—precisely in the head.
Such a shot requires skill and practice. In human-wildlife conflicts, shootings to the leg, foot, or shoulder are more common injuries.
As you may imagine, she was highly traumatized when she arrived at the facility, and it took us some time to win her trust.
We spoke and sang all day and all night while giving her seed pods and fresh grass. But she didn’t want anything to do with us. We didn’t blame her either. Yet, we had to persuade her that we were there to support her.
Being the orphan herd’s matriarch, Shaba is crucial to the sanctuary. She maintains order, teaches the young ones on how to negotiate rugged terrain, and—most impressive—she extends a warm welcome to each new orphan entering the refuge.
She has also taught us, the keepers, a lot in addition to this. Shaba exhibited signs of tension and anxiety when we switched from the uniform she was used to to a camouflage outfit, and she started charging everyone and everything. Maybe the murderer of her mother was donning a jacket like that.” She calmed down right away after we changed it back.
There is something to be learned from Shaba each day by watching her behaviour and interactions with the other elephants. She serves as the herd’s anchor and a critical factor in the success of the orphans around her.
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