Kahudum Jumbo

In northeast Namibia, near the northwest corner Botswana hard on the border, there lies Khaudum Park, a very wild and remote place. Very few people visit. Infrastructure is extremely limited. It is a mind-boggling three hundred and eighty-four thousand hectare landscape and home to a variety of wildlife. Loxodonta africana exists here in a size not to be equaled anywhere else on the planet. It is here that males of the species weigh in excess of eight and half tons. This is not a guess. It is fact. Verified on a very large scale.


How much do I weigh?

Loading the captured jumbo
After nine years of extensive negotiations with the Namibian government, the family Joubert succeeded in obtaining permission to capture and transplant more than one hundred of these most special creatures to Erindi Game Reserve. The goal was to protect the gene pool and establish two breeding herds of this particularly outsized jumbo. It was an effort of herculean proportions, on a scale that cannot be easily imagined. The animals were captured and then transported via a game carrier to a gathering place where they were transferred to another specially constructed highway trailer for the nearly one thousand kilometer journey to their new home in the central Namibian highlands.


Let the games begin

Almost time to load!

The big picture, transport on the way in!

On the darting pass...
A brief digression here, if I may. To capture an elephant you do not saunter up to it and place a net over it, stuffing it into a means of conveyance. Elephant do not herd well, so the elephant drive does not function as planned. You must dart the great beasts, then they bugger off to who knows where and fall down asleep if all goes well. Please pay attention to the “who knows where” in the above scenario. Khaudum is wild, virtually roadless country. The Joubert’s utilized game capture helicopters to dart the jumbo and track them to their napping place. Then the vehicles had to be brought in where no roads exist. Bring on the bulldozers. It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?


Wow!!

I know I can unlock this crate...

A couple more ready to go!

I gotta find my way outta here...
All of this sounds relatively straight-forward. It was not. First the soil here is mostly sand. Also there were no trailers tall enough to transfer the beasts upright during their long journey. The Joubert’s purchased the largest game trailers made and added a meter to their height. All around each enclosed trailer. Never before in history have elephants in this number and size been transported this distance, let alone under these conditions.

On the road...

Largest Transport Crates in the world

Relocation Boma

Fast asleep and off to see the wizard...
The largest males stood three meter eighty-five centimeters tall, and weighed over seventeen thousand pounds. Two each per trailer and each in their own separate compartment. More than twenty-four hours on the road in some cases. Released into two hundred and sixty-eight square miles of their new home at Erindi. They have flourished and reproduced well.


At home on Erindi 2016
Elephants need a lot of food and territory to keep them happy. Erindi has suffered, along with most of Namibia, from a severe drought over three of the last four years. A feeding program, utilizing peanut hay, and lucerne (alfalfa) is underway daily. The drought has reduced the size of all waterholes and some have disappeared entirely. Bore holes and pumping, either by generator or solar have helped supply the water necessary.

The cost of the initial capture and transport operation over its two and half month term was staggering. Now add the care and feeding over several years and you can see the magnitude of commitment to this most important species and its conservation. This is just one area where Erindi leads by example, preserving a wildlife legacy for all future generations.

An utterly awesome an inspiring story. Thank you!

Great pics and refreshing success story

WOW!!! What a Massive Undertaking.

wow well done

What an undertaking. I've hunted in the Nyae Nyae conservancy, which joins the Khandum on the parks southern border and the elephant are HUGE. The park is getting over populated and the cows are beginning to move into the Nyae Nyae which has been a bull only area



I hope this area has enough food to support these big body elephant.

Very cool!
That's some serious logistics involved with the operation.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing.

It is so nice to see a really wealthy man spending a lot, really a hellofa lot, of money on a worthy cause!

Thanks to you all for your posts! The Joubert family in their creation of Erindi demonstrated their commitment to conservation on a grand scale. The private reserve, at over 268 square miles is really a global treasure. The current drought in Namibia is really tragic on a scale that is difficult for most of us to realize. The amount of money required for water pumping, feeding, and all the other funding requirements for such a large reserve again clearly show that these people are CONSERVATIONISTS of the highest order. It has been my pleasure to be their friend for the past 16 years and see their vision become reality... may the African Gods smile upon this special place, and all of southern Africa with the blessings of much needed rain...

quote:

Originally posted by Ngruma:
Thanks to you all for your posts! The Joubert family in their creation of Erindi demonstrated their commitment to conservation on a grand scale. The private reserve, at over 268 square miles is really a global treasure. The current drought in Namibia is really tragic on a scale that is difficult for most of us to realize. The amount of money required for water pumping, feeding, and all the other funding requirements for such a large reserve again clearly show that these people are CONSERVATIONISTS of the highest order. It has been my pleasure to be their friend for the past 16 years and see their vision become reality... may the African Gods smile upon this special place, and all of southern Africa with the blessings of much needed rain...

Thanks for sharing. Paul and his family has really done a wonderful job with Erindi and it's game. I've had the pleasure of visiting there twice.