In October 2024 I had the immense pleasure of hosting long-time blogging friend John Steiner (of Journeys with Johnbo), his wife Lynn, John’s niece Patricia Broesder and her husband Gary on a tour of Cape Town and the Kruger National Park. In Kruger we were joined by colleagues Hannes Rossouw and Irving Knight, both experts in their respective fields.
Still on the subject of elephants. Travelling between Letaba and Satara one early afternoon we came across a most harrowing sight of a lone young elephant, emaciated and totally oblivious to his surroundings and most certainly too small to have been expelled from the herd, walking along an elephant footpath towards – well, what? There was no elephant herd anywhere nearby and we could only guess as to why he was so terribly alone, and obviously has been for quite a while, and where he might be headed. Nature can be cruel at times and watching her take her course is not always easy, but in national parks like the Kruger that is exactly what has to happen. There can only be human intervention if the problem was caused by human interference to begin with and in this case there was no reason to suspect that this was the case.
Luckily we had many other wonderful encounters with elephants during our visit where we could watch their endearing familiar relations and interactions within the herd.
I am a fully accredited and legally registered tour guide (with all the necessary insurance, professional drivers license and first aid certification) – don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like me to arrange a guided tour of beautiful South Africa and all her natural wonders, like the Kruger National Park, for you as well, or even just to assist with your holiday reservations for our national parks and nature reserves throughout the country.
DeWetsWild 
Indeed!
A sad encounter, indeed. As you stated, nature has precedent over her domain, and humans must not meddle.
This was one of those sightings where head and heart doesn’t sing the same hymn…
There is always a story in the wild … These are excellent photographs! I see your post in News 24 again 🙂 🙂 🙂
This was one of those stories that had more questions than answers, Anne. A sad mystery.
Thanks as well for the “heads-up” about news24!