Wild Wonderful World funded the first-ever collaring of an adult elephant cow on the Herd Nature Reserve which is situated on the border of South Africa (Kruger National Park) and Zimbabwe. The collar will be used to gather data of elephant herd movement in the reserve, which is situated on the border of South Africa (KNP) and Zimbabwe. Nearby reserves are Maremani Nature Reserve and Mapubungwe National Park (SANparks), the latter sharing a border with Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana. The Limpopo River connects these game reserves with the KNP at Pafuri.

It is known that the elephants use the Limpopo River to cross in between the KNP, Zimbabwe and Northern Tuli in Botswana as documented by the research-based NGO Elephants Alive. The collar data from this elephant cow is intended to document the corridor movements and to establish an elephant corridor in the region, as well as to keep tabs on any human-elephant conflict in the area.

The Herd Nature Reserve is a vital partner in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve Great Vhembe Conservation Area (GVCA) and forms part of the Limpopo Riverine Elephant Migration Corridor pilot project. This landscape-scale conservation effort aims to ensure the survival of African elephants while fostering peaceful coexistence between wildlife and rural communities.

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With thanks to Wild Wonderful Word donor Mary, who's donation enabled us to fund the 3.1h of helicopter time (Big Game Heli), veterinary costs (Wildscapes) and the GPS collar including 2 years of satellite data (African Wildlife Tracking). With special thanks to Maremani Game Reserve for contributing the Bathawk flying hours and the Herd Nature Reserve for the excellent collaboration and successful first collaring on this new reserve.

Are you interested in sponsoring an elephant GPS collar? You can buy one here

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Written by Evelyn Poole. Photos Sine Hedeby.