12 Nov 2019

Passion for wildlife conservation has driven the Maun born, Mr Boago Poloko to establish a facility aimed at rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned elephant calves with the involvement of the community.

Situated at Ghabamochaa settlement at the edge of the Okavango Delta, Elephant Havens orphanage opened its doors in 2017 through support and assistance from the international donors.

The young elephants live peacefully at the place as they receive daily care, emotional support and friendship until they are ready to be reintroduced to the jungle.

In an interview, the youthful Mr Poloko revealed that working in the safari industry was an eye-opener as he gained a lot of experience as far as wildlife conservation was concerned.

He once worked at Abu Elephant Camp, a centre for elephant conservation excellence.

The facility offers an opportunity for one to witness elephants from a close range and how they interact with the ecosystem.

During his stay at the camp, he said he had a chance to understand the behaviour of elephants and the conservation challenges they faced.

He said spending time with elephant herd made him think outside the box, hence the establishment of the orphanage to protect these beautiful animals when they are at their most fragile.

He noted that he was also concerned about the issue of wildlife conflict, which had become a serious challenge to the Ngamiland community.

The foundation, he said, would also engage the community and discuss some solutions to reduce the impact.

Mr Poloko’s foundation was founded after securing sponsorship from one of the international partners from Texas.

The first female baby elephant to be admitted at the orphanage was named Mmamotse from Seronga, followed by a male called Tsholofelo from Eretsha in the Okavango District.

Currently, the orphanage has five elephants , the youngest of which is three months old.

Mr Poloko said the youngest one was chased by dogs and found refuge at the centre.

Asked why they were named, he said since they were stressed and traumatised, he believed that naming them would heal them mentally.

He explained that they could be orphaned because their mothers could have been poached, died due to fire or drought, adding that besides natural causes, these were the events that separated a young elephant from their mother and their herd.

He explained that caring for orphaned elephants was not an easy task, noting that an elephant behaved like a human being, which meant it had a sharp memory and needed love and attention.

A baby elephant abandoned in the wild, he said, could not survive on its own as it needed care and companionship. 

To demonstrate love to animals, elephant handlers feed them milk every three hours while the grown ones are kept into cages and fed with grass and other vegetation. 

Currently, the foundation has employed 13 young people, five of which are from Ghabamochaa area.

Narrating how they captured the elephants, he explained that they relied on reports from the communities, Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) and Co-Exist Foundation.

Once they got the report from the community, he said they liaised with DWNP for licence issuance to capture the animals.

He further explained that before capturing them, they assessed the situation with the hope that they would have found the herd, but after three days, DWNP declare them orphans.

He said they were in talks with Tawana Land board to allocate them a chunk of land next to the orphanage to be used as a pre-release area before the animals could join others in the wild.

Besides taking care of the elephants, the foundation also offers outreach educational programmes for locals.

Mr Poloko said they were working with the communities including farmers association to teach them about the behaviour of elephants and what to do during an encounter with the animals.

In addition, he said they wanted to sensitise farmers about methods they could apply to prevent elephants from destroying the fields.

He said they wanted the community not to view elephants as a threat, but they should appreciate how they could benefit from them as they created jobs in the tourism sector.

Mr Poloko appealed to the community to support the project and donate towards the protection of the elephants.

Locals aged above 13 pay P250 while international tourists pay P5 000 to view and experience the pleasure of interacting with elephants. ENDS