How did an Elephant end up in Francoise's kitchen?

I walked into the lounge of my home at Thula Thula and almost tripped over my dogs Gypsy, Gin and Jeff. Gin immediately trotted up to me, hoping for a snack, but his timing was a bit off. It was 9pm and dinner was over.

“The thing about you, Gin, is you only love me for my food.”

He wagged his tail in agreement. My Labrador Jeff lifted his head and gave a lazy growl. Seconds later there was a sharp knock on the door. I frowned. Surprise visitors are unusual at night in the bush. I opened the door cautiously and was astonished to see my chef Tom Xulu.

“Quick! There’s a baby ellie outside your house,” she said.

I froze, knowing exactly which calf it was. ET’s one- week-old daughter. The night before, my tented camp manageress had reported seeing her inside the electric perimeter fence but both she and the guard had assured me that the calf was back with her mother. They had clearly been wrong.

I huddled my dogs into the bedroom while Tom told me how she had shone her torch across the lawn to investigate a strange noise. A tiny elephant had stared back at her, eyes bulging in terror.

An abandoned calf is a code-red emergency. And this little one had been alone for a dangerous length of time. I had been concerned when the night guard had explained that he saw the calf running towards the sound of branches breaking near Tent 1 but hadn’t actually witnessed her reunion with ET, but elephants are fantastic mothers and would never leave a baby unattended, especially not a newborn, so I had assumed she was safe.

‘She had walked miles to get here and was quite distressed when she arrived - she looked tired, thirsty and hungry.’

An Elephant in My Kitchen in the News 

Françoise on SABC's Expresso Show 

Interview with African Network TV 

Talking books, interview with CNBC's  Jill de Villiers

In the News! 

Article on News 24

Live on East Coast Radio! 

Live on Voices for Biodiversity

Grieving with a Herd of Elephants