Jumbos get ready for return to the wild

Seven elephants will soon start going cold turkey - the drugs they will be kicking are their human handlers.

For 20 years Sapi, Mana, Michael, Sharu and Chikwenya have been taking humans out on safari but now it's time for them to retire.

The elephants and two calves, Tidimalo and Ngwedi, work for Pilanesberg Elephant-back Safaris, in Sun City, and will retire at the end of next month.

Their new life will begin with rehabilitation which, if successful, will allow them to return to the bush as wild elephants.

Brett Mitchell, who works for the safari company, will be helping them go wild but doesn't know how long it will take.

"This is obviously a complex process. In a nutshell, we will stop all commercial activities with the elephants and slowly start to disengage the handlers' interaction with them.

"This process will vary with each elephant's response," Mitchell explained.

The elephants will slowly be moved away from their handlers and GPS trackers might be strapped onto them to track them as they roam and assess how wild they have become.

A good sign would be if they stayed away from human habitation.

The adult elephants came from Zimbabwe and have been with the company for 12 years. The two calves were born at Sun City.

For the past 12 years the elephants have worked on at least two tourist "safaris" a day and have interacted closely with their riders.

During the day, said Mitchell, the elephants would wander freely around the reserve. They spend the night in large enclosures.

Their working day was usually three to four hours.

Such animal rehabilitations have been successful before, according to Mitchell.

"If the rehabilitation plan is well thought out and managed correctly, the success rate can be high," he said.

A reserve to which the elephants can be relocated has not yet been found.

If the rehabilitation is successful, Mitchell said, the elephants would no longer want to interact with humans.

Mitchell said that saying farewell to the elephants would be a bitter-sweet experience.

"Naturally, the announcement was a sad moment for the handlers after spending so many years with these beautiful animals.

"But the staff are excited and looking forward to being part of their rehabilitation back into the wild."