On the 24th of March a report was received about an elephant bull with a fairly fresh-looking and severe trunk injury, thought to be caused by a snare.
After the Umbabat warden’s discussions with the MTPA, Kruger National Park and the local veterinarians, it was decided that an intervention was needed to treat the bull's injury as quickly as possible.
On the 25th of March the elephant bull was found and monitored until the crew could arrive. The bull was successfully darted on Ingwelala, close to the airstrip, and was under sedation for a total of 28 minutes.
In this time, the wound was neatened up, cleaned, and debrided, and the elephant was treated with multivitamins, long-lasting antibiotics and painkillers to assist with recovery and fight any potential infection from the wound. This will hopefully allow the elephant bull some time to adjust to his injury and get used to feeding and drinking with a shorter trunk. Elephants Alive! also took measurements of him for their ongoing research, which will be incredibly valuable when monitoring his condition in future.
The wound was confirmed to be from a snare, which cut cleanly through one side of the trunk, while we assume the other side was completely ripped off during his struggle to escape the snare. This would have been incredibly painful for the animal, as an elephant’s trunk has more than 60,000 muscles and 400,000 neurons within the nerves that control it. With those hanging loose and exposed to the elements, he would have been struggling immensely with pain, as the trunk is undoubtedly one of the most sensitive body parts in the animal kingdom.
The trunk would also most likely not have healed properly as a result of the elephant still trying to use it in that condition. Hopefully, with the wound treated, this will have reduced his pain substantially.
The snare injury before, during and after treatment.The elephant’s body condition was noted to be very poor before darting, which was most likely due to him being unable to use his trunk to eat and drink. Because of the manner and severity of his injury, this is the logical explanation for his weight loss. This is certainly of concern, as he will need to put on weight and get stronger in order to make a recovery after treatment, but we are hopeful that with the painkillers in his system this will allow him the “grace period” necessary to adapt to using a shorter trunk more successfully. There is also always the possibility that he was already in poor condition, before the trunk injury, as a result of something else - but this can only be known in time, once he is using his “new” trunk normally.
Excitingly though, the bull was spotted drinking successfully, using his trunk, just 2 days after treatment. We are confident that with the aid of the antibiotics and painkillers, and the debridement of the necrotic tissue and loose nerve endings, that he will continue to get stronger in the coming weeks and months. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him to make sure!
The decision was made not to collar him, so we are relying on sightings to monitor him through the next few weeks. He is easily noticeable by the fresh wound where the trunk has been cut off by the snare, and a small hole towards the bottom of his left ear.
We will re-evaluate his condition in the coming weeks, and should another intervention be required, we will assist with that as best we can. If you see him, please take photos and/or videos of him and forward them on to
A massive thank you to all involved, including the Umbabat warden, Wimpie Pretorius, and his team of field rangers, Elephants Alive! (who covered all the costs), helicopter pilot Gerry McDonald, local wildlife veterinarian Dr Bart Gazendam and the Wildscapes Veterinary & Conservation Services crew, the de Luca family, and the Ingwelala team that assisted. This would not have been possible without you!
Hopefully the bull makes a full recovery. We will update everyone on his condition as and when updates come in. Thank you as well to all who continue to send updates in for us.
Words by Tess Woollgar, images courtesy of Tess Woollgar, Josh Hibbett, Stacy Pretorius & Elephants Alive!.