Book Review: The Elephant Whisperer,* by Lawrence Anthony (1), published June 5, 2009, 368 pages, Lexile 840, recommended for grades 9-12 and adults. There is also an adaptation available for ages 10-14 titled The Elephant Whisperer, My Life with the Herd in the African Wild, 268 pages.  Please note: neither book is in the Pageturner library and will require student requests for purchases to be made.

Every time I reread this non-fiction work, a favorite of mine, I’m reminded of the opening lines of the film “Out of Africa,” in which we hear Meryl Streep’s voice dreamily recollecting, “I had a farm in Africa…”  Anthony, by contrast, puts himself right out there.  I’m always a tad stunned to recall that perhaps no living Zulu had ever seen an elephant in their wild.

“Not only am I a conservationist, I am an extremely lucky one for I own a game reserve called Thula Thula. It consists of 5,000 acres of pristine bush in the heart of Zululand, South Africa, where elephants once roamed freely. No longer. Many rural Zulus have never seen an elephant. My elephants were the first wild ones to be reintroduced into our area for more than a century. Thula Thula is a natural home to much of the indigenous wildlife of Zululand, including the majestic white rhino, Cape buffalo, leopard, hyena, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, crocodile, and many species of antelope, as well as lesser known predators such as the lynx and serval. We have seen pythons as long as a truck and we have possibly the biggest breeding population of white-backed vultures in the province. And, of course, we have elephants.” 

The Thula Thula Game Reserve was once owned as his private hunting reserve by King Shaka, the African emperor who founded the Zulu nation and almost succeeded in routing the British Empire. (2) Shortly before Anthony was asked to take on seven rogue elephants about to be shot dead for the impertinence of being unmanageable, he and his rangers were trying to deal with a group of highly organized poachers who were stealing and selling nyalas, a species of African antelope (3):

“About ten yards outside the fence were the studded muddy tracks of a 4x4 bush vehicle that by now would be several miles away. The animals would be sold to local butchers who would use them for biltong, a dried meat jerky that is much prized throughout Africa. The light of my torch picked up a bloody tuft of charcoal-grey fur fluttering on the cut fence wire. At least one of the dead bucks was a male–the female nyala is light brown with thin white stripes on her back. I shivered, feeling old and weary. Thula Thula had been a hunting ranch before I had bought it and I had vowed that would end. No animal would be needlessly killed again on my watch. I didn’t realize how difficult that vow would be to keep.”

“I had barely got back to the house when the phone rang. A woman introduced herself: Marion Garai from the Elephant Managers and Owners Association (EMOA), a private organization comprised of several elephant owners in South Africa that takes an interest in elephant welfare…You could have knocked me over with a blade of grass. Elephant? The world’s largest mammal? And they wanted to give me a whole herd? For a moment I thought it was a hoax. I mean how often do you get phoned out of the blue asking if you want a herd of tuskers? But Marion was serious. OK, I asked; what was the bad news? Well, said Marion. There was a problem. The elephants were considered ‘troublesome’. They had a tendency to break out of reserves and the owners wanted to get rid of them fast. If we didn’t take them, they would be put down–shot. All of them.’..‘How many?’ ‘Nine–three adult females, three youngsters, of which one was male, an adolescent bull, and two babies. It’s a beautiful family. The matriarch has a gorgeous baby daughter. The young bull, her son, is fifteen years old and an absolutely superb specimen.’ ‘They must be a big problem. Nobody just gives away elephants.’ ‘As I said, the matriarch keeps breaking out. Not only does she snap electric wires, she’s also learnt how to unlatch gates with her tusks and the owners aren’t too keen about jumbos wandering into the guest camps. If you don’t take them, they will be shot.’..Marion didn’t shy away from saying they were ‘troublesome’. But what did that really mean? Were they just escape artists? Or was this a genuine rogue herd, too dangerous and filled with hatred of humans to keep on a game reserve in a populated area? However, here was a herd in trouble. Despite the risks, I knew what I had to do. ‘Hell yes,’ I replied. ‘I’ll take them.’”

Sadly, the matriarch and her baby are shot dead as the herd is being rounded up for the 600-mile transport in an 18-wheeler.  And when the truck arrives, the designated off-ramp is filled with water and muddy.  The herd is grieving its loss and profoundly traumatized.  Moreover, the boma, a traditional kind of safe house that teaches elephants to avoid electrical fencing, had been improperly wired and wasn’t ready.  Intrepid 19-year old David, whose Zulu name Escoro means “fighter,” climbs atop the 18-wheeler to a wide air vent in order to sedate them again; he barely escapes being dragged in by a searching trunk. 7 crazed elephants would have rendered him hamburger in a minute.  Although it appears their journey has ended, it’s only just begun-- as the song goes.

Of course the herd escapes the boma. “My worst fears were confirmed. But even so, how on earth had the animals got through an electrified fence pushing 8,000 volts so effortlessly? We soon found out. Judging by their tracks, they had reached the eight-foot fence, milled around for a while and then backtracked into the reserve until–uncannily–they found the energizer that powers the fence. How they knew this small, nondescript machine hidden in a thicket half a mile away was the source of current baffled us. But somehow they did, trampling it like a tin can and then returning to the boundary, where the wires were now dead. They then shouldered the concrete-embedded poles out of the ground like matchsticks. Their tracks pointed north.”  They’d come from the north; it took three days to track them and bring them back.  For weeks after that, promptly at 4:45 every morning the remaining 7 elephants lined up facing their former home.  It was unsettling. His resource Marion Garai soon suggested they consult a psychic because, what harm could it do? A red-haired Canadian woman showed up to say there was an evil demon living in Anthony's favorite Moreton Bay fig tree, which devil she also claims to have removed. Mysteriously,  this tree will soon begin to die for no apparent reason. Anthony's wife, French chef that she is, is repulsed by the psychic's penchant for eating nothing but peanut butter sandwiches. When she next claims that clouds aren't clouds but spaceships--which she knows because she's been in one--Anthony offers his thanks and sends her on her way. Maybe that evil demon was really a good spirit.

Although he’d been advised by experts to leave them restricted in the boma sans human contact for three months, Anthony decides to live with them and David, just outside the boma. They live rough in their Land Rover for weeks, Anthony talking to the matriarch, especially, as often as possible, while he and David toss 2,000 pounds of hay to them every week. “I would remain outside the boma, of course, but I would stay with them, feed them, talk to them, but most importantly, be with them day and night. These magnificent creatures were extremely distressed and disorientated and maybe, just maybe, if someone who cared about them was constantly with them, they would have a chance.”

Over time, Anthony learns that a deep rumbling in their stomachs is actually a powerful form of communication that can be heard and interpreted by other elephants over approximately 400 miles—and that they repeat these, so that they really have a worldwide network.  Too low to be heard by human ears, he can feel the vibrations in his own body, and he responds with soft talk, calling each one by name.  The matriarch he calls Nana will be the first to be receptive, her sister Frankie, the last.  A teenaged bull, on the cusp of adulthood—at which time the herd will reject him so as t avoid inbreeding—actually yearns for Anthony’s companionship. This poor elephant is still mourning the loss of his mother the previous matriarch and his sister.  Before the book’s end, Mnuzame, which means “sir,” will have to be euthanized when he becomes far too dangerous for all involved. Long before that, however, both Nana and Frankie will bear babies, having been impregnated at their previous home—pregnancy lasting 22 months.  Both moms will present their babies to Anthony with pride, which humbles him.

“Years later I was in the Sudan on a conservation project when I heard an incredible story on good authority that sounded similar to my own. During the twenty-year war between northern and southern Sudan elephants were being slaughtered both for ivory and meat and so large numbers migrated to Kenya for safety. Within days of the final ceasefire being signed, the elephants left their adopted residence en masse and trekked the hundreds of miles back home to Sudan. How they knew that their home range was now safe is just another indication of the incredible abilities of these amazing creatures.”

Eventually the elephants settle in and enjoy foraging in the wild, especially after seasonal rains leave the forest newly lush. Then, later, Nana decides to visit Anthony, with all the herd, and his wife Francoise—at home.  When she groks that she can’t walk in through the door, led away and joined the rest of the clan as they finished off the few remaining exotic plants in “Frustrated at my reluctance to come to her, she decided to come to me, trying to squash her vast frame between the two brick pillars that straddled the verandah entrance. This obviously didn’t work, and we watched openmouthed as she then gently placed her forehead on the left pillar and gave an exploratory shove. That certainly got my attention. I remembered what she had done to the gate poles at the boma and had no doubt she would bring the whole verandah roof down if she wanted to. I hastily stepped forward and she stopped shoving and lifted her trunk. Once again she snaked it over the top of my body. It was a good thing I hadn’t changed for I received another liberal basting of slime, while the sound of her deep rumbling stomach reverberated through the house, drowning out the thumping of my heart. Satisfied, she eventually ambled away and joined the rest of the clan as they finished off the few remaining exotic plants in Françoise’s now obliterated garden.”  Nana gets used to exploring Anthony with her trunk.  As she leaves a good half-pint of her snot on his person each time, Françoise insists he shower before going anywhere near HER.

Above all, when Lawrence and matriarch Nana get close enough for her to explore him with her trunk--and him to explore her, too--he persistently feels this immense PEACE emanating from her.  He feels it, too, when it's not there--he feels its ABSENCE-- so he knows it's not HIM, it's HER.  Imagine this kind of communication with the largest known sentient creature on Earth!  

Thula Thula requires constant maintenance and a huge staff; soon their accountant visits to tell them they’d better come up with some means of revenue or sell the reserve. The accountant prepares to leave before any decisions can be made, so Anthony casually shoots a 9 mm. into one of his tires and then graciously offers him a room for the night. Françoise offers her expert training as a French chef, and so they come up with the idea of building a luxurious villa for tourists.  Soon they’re making a profit, although the work is still relentless.  Nana and her entourage will also visit there, interrupting a dinner party, smashing all the dinnerware and glasses and trudging over it all to nosh on every wheel of Camembert, fruits, and bread.  Only the champagne remains intact. Once again Nana pushes on the walls of the veranda, threatening the entire structure, so Anthony must step out to tell her no.  She dumps a huge pile of poop to relay her disgust before leaving.  Anthony then has a drinking pond built nearby with clean well water, and after, Nana and her crew magnanimously leave the guest pool alone. 

Eventually he will convince the herd to allow guests to get within walking distance, graciously ignoring their incessant photo ops.

Nana and her family had arrived at Thula Thula in 1999.  “On March 2nd, 2012, a herd of African elephants started walking to pay their respects. They walked for two days to arrive on March 4th. For three years in a row, every March 4th, the herd returned to that very same house tucked away deep in the African bush. Elephants mourn their dead, returning to where bones of one of them lay and linger around for hours; except that this time, they were mourning a man, Lawrence Anthony who had passed away unexpectedly while he was abroad on the 2nd of March 2012. Lawrence, founder and late owner of the Thula Thula game reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, had saved this rogue herd of elephants, and each of them knew it. Despite all the struggles, with this elephant herd breaking through the fence of the park, one flipping his car over and killing a rhino, and many more described in his acclaimed book The Elephant Whisperer, Lawrence did not give up on his beloved elephants. The Thula Thula game reserve that he established with his wife Françoise Malby has remained their home. To this day, the elephants of Thula Thula (Zulu for peace and tranquillity) seem to know that they are part of Françoise’s family, and the private game reserve on the former hunting grounds of the Zulu King Shaka, provides a unique safari experience to its visitors with close encounters. (4) 

As of last year, 2023, there are now 29 elephants living at Thula Thula. Françoise still manages the safari lodge and tent camp. (5) Wouldn't it be a dream, to visit there?

We know, of course, that elephants grieve the loss of their family members and have long memories; even as a child, I often heard the expression, "Elephants never forget."  But the question remains: HOW DID THE HERD KNOW LAWRENCE ANTHONY HAD DIED ON MARCH 2, 2012--WHEN HE WAS IN EUROPE??

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*won best audio book in Bio/Memoirs, 2014

(1) “Lawrence Anthony was the elephant whisperer, the Indiana Jones of Conservation, a wildlife guru. He made an impact as an international conservationist, environmentalist, explorer at large and bestselling author. [In March, 2012] he died of a heart attack, age 61. He will forever be remembered as a true pioneer of wildlife conservation.

“Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, Lawrence Anthony was the owner of the 2 000-hectare Thula Thula Game Reserve in Zululand in KwaZulu Natal. He and his wife, Françoise, both lived there for many years with their family.

“Read more about our experience of Thula Thula and the magical owners Lawrence and Françoise in our blog, Talking to the Elephant Whisperer.

“Lawrence is the man who saved the Baghdad Zoo during the Iraq War. Once the biggest zoo in the Middle East, Baghdad Zoo was badly hit by the war – it was bombed, animals were looted for food and caged animals starved to death. Lawrence set off on a private rescue initiative, using mercenaries and zoo keepers to protect the zoo, along with the US Army soldiers, Iraqi civilians and other volunteers he recruited. Eventually he brought the zoo back to life and it was reopened. Read more in Lawrence’s book Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo. From:  https://blog.rhinoafrica.com/2012/03/12/the-life-times-of-lawrence-anthony-elephant-whisperer/https

(2) You can watch the two part film “Shaka Zulu” (1986) or the mini-series (also 1986) on Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ (The second part of the movie, called “The Citadel” is available on YouTube.

(3) This site shows photos of male and female nyalas and provides information about their characteristics and habitat. https://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_nyala.html

(4) Excerpted from: https://bestregardsfromfar.com/2023/12/20/elephants-of-thula-thula-south-africa/

(5) “With its unique atmosphere, stylish décor and superb cuisine, the 4500 ha Thula Thula private game reserve offers you the choice of exclusive accommodation between the Elephant Safari Lodge, a renowned gourmet destination, and the Luxury Tented Camp, offering an authentic African bush experience in the heart of Zululand, each offering a very unique experience.”  (The photos of the villa are awesome!) https://thulathula.com/

 

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