WATCH | Powerful puppet film urges South Africa to rethink elephant culls

Three life-size elephant puppets lumber through the bushveld browsing on trees, as subtitles describe them as “the seed bearers” — the African giants that scatter the seeds of forests.

As the sun sets, a helicopter appears overhead, its spotlight sweeping across the elephant family. The bull raises his trunk and trumpets before the horror unfolds.

Shots ring out. The father stumbles and collapses. The mother falls moments later, while the frantic calf runs in circles before it too is killed.

As the family lies dead, viewers are left wondering: “We are at the crossroads with human alternatives in hand. Which way will we go?”

That message lies at the heart of The Seed Bearers’ Last Walk, a short film commissioned, funded and produced by Humane World for Animals South Africa to raise awareness of the need to protect South Africa’s elephants from the threat of mass culling.

Elephant biologist Dr Audrey Delsink leads Humane World for Animals’ elephant immunocontraception programme with the University of Pretoria’s Veterinary Population Management Laboratory and partner reserves. To date, the programme has safely vaccinated more than 1,800 wild female elephants across 50 South African reserves.

“We are calling for a complete halt on the idea that elephants need to be mass culled in South Africa. Elephant numbers do need to be managed because their natural range has been vastly limited by humans, but the least we can do is approach this challenge with compassion and respect for their welfare — especially when humane alternatives exist,” Delsink said.

She said the decision to use giant puppets was intended to create an emotional connection with audiences.

“They are not simply numbers in a population management debate, but individuals whose lives have intrinsic value all on their own,” she said.

According to Delsink, proven non-lethal methods are available to manage elephant populations, while more than 2,000 elephants currently face potential slaughter because of claims of overpopulation by provincial authorities in North West and KwaZulu-Natal.

The elephants featured in the film were designed by the Handspring Puppet Company, the South African collective best known for internationally acclaimed productions including War Horse and The Herds, a climate-awareness project featuring 600 life-size animal puppets.

They were designed by Handspring’s Adrian Kohler and built by Sipho Ngxola, Luyanda Nogodlwana, Siphokazi Mpofu and the late Ncedile Daki of Ukwanda Puppets.

“Through these giant puppets, we hope audiences will feel an emotional connection with these magnificent sentient beings who have their own intrinsic value."

Delsink said that while non-lethal alternatives have existed for years, their implementation has stalled within the government departments now considering culling.

“South Africa must not turn back the clock on decades of elephant protection by returning to an archaic, wholesale massacre of its elephants. We hope this storytelling initiative will shift national narratives away from commodifying elephants as hunting trophies or for population control and instead re-establish public and spiritual connections to them,” she said.

Senior wildlife specialist Dr Matthew Schurch, who viewed the film, said: “Watching the puppet elephants felt amazingly reminiscent of seeing elephants in the wild. Witnessing the puppeteers evocatively recreate the panic of elephants caught in the crosshairs was incredibly moving. When the puppets fell to the ground, the powerful stillness impacted us all.”

Seven puppeteers were needed to bring the elephants to life on screen.

Puppeteer Siphokazi Mpofu said: “Being part of raising awareness for the endangered elephants was incredibly meaningful for us. It gave us the opportunity to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. The puppets have the unique power to make people stop, look, and connect emotionally. They are magical, spark conversations, inspire empathy and remind us why protecting these magnificent animal matters.”