A Grade 9 Kingswood College pupil snapped a photo in Port Alfred that’s left South Africans in awe. The heartwarming part? People loved it so much they are encouraging her to enter it into competitions!

Port Alfred, South Africa (06 March 2024) — A Grade 9 Kingswood College pupil has left South Africans in awe after she captured Mother Nature at her finest in the Eastern Cape’s Port Alfred.

Shared by her school, Siré Schoncken’s photo captures a bolt of lightning, rolling waves and a looming grey cloud on a deserted part of the beach.

Beyond the breathtaking photo, there’s heart to this story in just how encouraging South Africans were in their responses to the budding photographer’s moment in the lightning light. On social media, comments ranged from backing Siré to enter her work into a competition all the way to nods of agreement that this student has a future in photography.

Siré’s mom Desica shared that her daughter is “beyond excited about the reaction of her photo.”

Captured on a Samsung phone camera, locals can’t wait to see what this budding photographer might be capable of with professional gear.

In any creative field (especially for young creatives), encouragement can be the difference between giving your talents a go or pushing them to the side. And seeing how many strangers were so kind to a young talent made our hearts very warm today.

Sources: Kingswood College

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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This World Wildlife Day, we look at how South Africans can join in the fight to save our beautiful country’s wildlife.

South Africa (03 March 2024) – World Wildlife Day is an annual event observed on March 3rd that aims to raise awareness about the world’s wild animals and plants and the need to protect them. If you live in a city far from natural wildlife, you can still be a part of celebrating and acknowledging this special day. Here are a few ways how.

Educate yourself

Taking the time to learn about different species of wildlife and their challenges is key to driving change. Raise your voice in support of wildlife!

Support conservation efforts

Often even supporting just one species will have a ripple effect. For example, the rhino, which is known as an ‘umbrella species’, represents much more to the environment than just being a member of the Big Five. It forms an integral part of an entire habitat that supports many different creatures, from insects to the symbiotic relationship the rhino has with, for example, the Oxpecker.

Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) needs support of its efforts to ensure the continued survival of an animal that remains the target of poachers for its most valuable asset – its horns. They fundraise to raise awareness and educate communities about rhino poaching, and assist teams from the EWT involved in anti-poaching efforts across the country. This includes their K9 unit which deploys detection and anti-poaching dogs to trouble zones to assist rangers and other enforcement teams in their work to try and prevent poaching incidents.

How you can help rhinos

One means to support rhino conservation is through Relate Bracelets, which is a non-profit that raises funds to support charitable causes by selling themed bracelets, and offers regular people an opportunity to support the conservation of these animals by buying themed bracelets. Relate Bracelets’ CEO, Dalit Shekel says: “It’s not enough simply to make and sell something without meaning or context.”

“You can also make a real difference as an individual by advocating for policy change. Get involved in advocating for policies that protect wildlife and their habitats. This can involve writing to elected officials, signing petitions, or participating in campaigns organised by conservation organisations,” says Shekel.

Teach children about wildlife conservation

Daktari Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage, which is a wildlife orphanage and environmental education centre, places a strong emphasis on children’s education about wildlife. The Hoedspruit-based non-profit recognises the vital role of educating youth in ensuring a sustainable future, and actively involves children in their wildlife education programmes.

Michele Merifield, Co-Founder of Daktari Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage says: “Through these initiatives, we aim to cultivate a generation that is conscious and committed to preserving nature. This gives local children access to their rich natural heritage. We encourage others to join the mission to raise a generation of passionate ecologists and to make South Africa a better place for all.”

Through the combination of the bush school and the wildlife orphanage, Daktari has developed an immersive educational experience for local children to learn about the wildlife around them, the environment, anti-poaching initiatives, and a wide variety of other issues, right in the middle of the bush. The work extends into the local community through ECO Club at the secondary schools, outreach campaigning in several schools, and other community development projects.

Elephants need our help too

Elephants are recognised as a “keystone species” meaning that they define the entire ecosystem they are a part of. If the species were to disappear, no other species would be able to fill the ecological niche left behind. Best case scenario, the entire ecosystem would be forced to change in dramatic ways or worst case, cease to exist altogether.

These are some of the elephants’ contributions to the overarching ecosystems:

One single African Forest Elephant is estimated to be worth more than US$ 1.75 million in carbon offsets. This means that a single African Forest Elephant is effectively undoing emissions from 2,047 petrol cars for one year! Adding to this, African Savannah Elephants may distribute seeds farther than any other land mammal (up to 65km), they also play a significant role in maintaining tree diversity and seed banks across the landscape.

Elephants are the architects and ecosystem engineers of the African wilderness. As Africa’s largest land mammal, they help to conserve large areas of landscape by forging corridors between islands of wildlife safe havens. We can’t afford to lose them, or the habitats they need to thrive. Elephant conservation is not an African issue, it is a worldwide issue.

Elephants Alive has identified several landscape-planning elephants. These trailblazers connect four countries: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini. Some elephants travelled from the Kruger National Park in South Africa all the way through southern Mozambique and back into Tembe National Park in South Africa, through Eswatini, before finally returning to Kruger! Others went East towards the Futi corridor and to Maputo Special Reserve on the south-eastern coast of Mozambique.

Travelling close to 3000km, these elephants have indicated a major natural migratory route in need of protection. Without this corridor, the nature reserves would be mere isolated islands. It also indicated potential high-conflict zones where the elephant corridors overlap with densely populated human settlements.

Dr. Michelle Henley, CEO of Elephants Alive: “These elephants’ movements are our call to action to not only understand their spatial requirements but to urgently work towards ways to make people’s livelihoods compatible with conservation outcomes so that coexistence and connected landscapes can prevail.”

Elephants Alive works together with rural communities to develop and implement solutions to turn human-elephant conflict into co-existence, by ensuring people’s safety and food security in areas where elephants are moving outside of nature reserves and creating linkages between Protected Areas.

Remember, every action, no matter how small, can make a difference in protecting and conserving wildlife for future generations.

Sources: Supplied

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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A donation of R1 million has been given to Goodbye Malaria in an effort to combat the deadly disease in Southern Africa.

Cape Town, South Africa (01 March 2024) – Relate Bracelets, a dedicated non-profit organisation based in Cape Town, is happy to announce a significant milestone with a donation of R1,000,000 to Goodbye Malaria, marking another step forward in the relentless fight against this deadly disease. Since its inception, Relate Bracelets has proudly raised just under R14 million for this cause, showcasing the collective power of the community and commitment to making a tangible difference in fighting this disease.

Relate Bracelets is a proudly 100% not-for-profit social enterprise which makes and sells handmade beaded products to raise money for charities globally, while creating jobs for people in low income communities. The non-profit is a social enterprise, which works towards providing solutions to some of the biggest problems in South Africa. It’s a business and does not rely on donations, but raises money for charitable causes.

Goodbye Malaria is an initiative to eliminate malaria, a preventable disease that kills a child every two minutes in Africa.

CEO of Relate Bracelets, Dalit Shekel says, “Malaria accounts for one in twelve global deaths in children under the age of five. Eighty percent of annual malaria deaths are among African children under five. The scourge continues to be a significant health concern for Africa, with the region accounting for 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of all malaria deaths.”

The partnership with Goodbye Malaria aids in accelerating interventions and innovations to malaria elimination in Southern East Africa. During the 2022/23 campaign, integrated vector management was conducted in a total of 22 districts in 3 provinces in Southern Mozambique, with an additional 8 mobile surveillance units positioned at key eastern border regions of South Africa. The results include over 4.2 million lives protected from malaria in the MOSASWA (Mozambique, South Africa and eSwatini) region.

Shekel says, “It is an honour and joy to collaborate with Goodbye Malaria, uniting our efforts to safeguard vulnerable communities, particularly women and young children, from this deadly disease. While we are celebrating this milestone, we’re also filled with anticipation for the greater impact we aim to achieve in the coming year. Our partnership embodies our shared commitment to turning the tide against malaria, and I’m profoundly inspired by the difference we’re making together”

Goodbye Malaria is the brainchild of passionate and concerned African entrepreneurs who’d seen the devastation of the disease on the continent. The social benefit organisation collaborates with world-class partners to end Malaria, including the Global Fund, private organisations, and the governments of Mozambique, South Africa and eSwatini.

Goodbye Malaria’s Marketing Manager, Kiri Rundle says, ‘Malaria holds back economies, communities, and families, with women and girls bearing the brunt of this impact. When we fight to eliminate malaria, we improve economic growth, advance gender equality, and bend the curve of poverty’.

‘The only way to combat this disease is together, this innovative partnership allows us to make an impactful difference on the ground and in malaria endemic communities, while driving societal transformation and empowering the crafters behind each bracelet’, Rundle adds.

Sources:  Relate

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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Three conservation heroes share their hopes of getting more children involved with nature, creating a generation that is hooked on nature.

South Africa (29 February 2024) – When Patlego Machete lived with her grandmother in rural Mpumalanga, she couldn’t wait to escape to the bright city lights. It was only years later that she realised the bush had always been calling her back – and now she is imparting this rekindled passion for nature to children as a conservation facilitator at Good Work Foundation (GWF).

As we celebrate World Wildlife Day on 3 March, Patlego and other young conservation champions wish to drive home the importance of educating children – as future custodians of our natural heritage – about conserving wildlife and caring for the environment.

Patlego’s journey may have since come full circle but, as a young village girl, “I wanted a different kind of life – I envied the city life. I needed to go and find myself,” she reminisces.

After matriculating, she had hoped to become a chartered accountant but was not accepted into college. Then she heard about GWF’s Conservation Academy and decided to enrol, not really knowing what it was all about.

“Three months down the line, I fell in love with nature – it was insane!” laughs Patlego. She would stop to identify rocks as she walked home, eliciting curious stares – “and that’s when I realised this is for me”. Accounting was history!

Today, Patlego is a qualified GWF conservation facilitator who loves taking schoolchildren into the bush on educational game drives. She says they get so excited seeing lions, zebras, wildebeest and elephants for the first time – even though they live close enough to these wild spaces to throw a stone in there, most have never had the opportunity to visit a game reserve because of affordability.

“If you have a dream, it’s better to go for it than to just do nothing and feel sorry for yourself. My dream came true, and I’m grateful for the risks I took and the people who helped me along the way.”

Neo finds her groove as a game ranger

Neo Mnisi, another GWF conservation graduate who works as a ranger and guide at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, was hooked on the great outdoors from an early age.

Neo grew up with her grandmother in rural Bushbuckridge, where life was tough. “When the rivers were full [and impassable], there was no going to school, even though I was a top student, getting 100% for my Natural Sciences tests. Sometimes, I would go to school with no lunch.”

Her career aspirations were put on hold when she fell pregnant at 18. To make ends meet, she took a job packing macadamia nuts on a farm. Years later, a glimmer of hope arose when she moved to Tshabalala village near Hazyview and learned of the opportunities offered at GWF.

Despite a decade having passed since school, Neo took the plunge and enrolled at the education non-profit’s Bridging Year Academy in 2020, and after that its Conservation Academy. “I’ve always loved reading and learning, so for me it was easy to go back to school,” she declares. “And I love nature.”

Thanks to GWF’s network of hospitality contacts, Neo landed a job as a transfer driver at Sabi Sabi. “They gave me a chance, enabling me to gain confidence as a driver. My driving improved a LOT in those first three months!” Neo then became a trainee ranger and, in February 2024, she qualified as a ranger.

“I get goosebumps when I think how much I love my job – it’s so amazing to see the faces of guests when they see an elephant for the first time in real life, not on TV. Some of them start crying,” she says, adding that she enjoys teaching children in her village about different bird calls and the importance of not harming wildlife.

“We should respect nature, and nature will respect us. Animals are dying because we are building everywhere and limiting their movement. We need to protect nature and wildlife and preserve it for future generations, otherwise they won’t know about their natural heritage.”

A conservation hero who never rests

Zuzumuzi Gumede, a facilitator at GWF’s Conservation Academy who has also worked at the Open Learning Academy, is a natural teacher who thrives on activity. “My favourite animal is an elephant – because elephants are always busy, moving around and doing something. They seldom rest.”

This animal lover was named a conservation hero during last year’s Extra Mile trail run (an initiative of the More Community Foundation) that passes the GWF’s campus in Huntington village – small wonder, as his passion for bringing conservation to life for young people is plain for all to see.

“There are a lot of issues related to human conflict with the natural environment, like poaching,” he says, explaining his passion for kindling a love of nature in young people.

“The natural environment is part of us as human beings – without it, we are nothing. It’s our duty to protect and sustain it. If we damage our ecosystems, humans are the next to be damaged. So we should learn to conserve our environment so it can sustain itself,” says Zuzumuzi.

Sources: The Good Work Foundation

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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World scientists will be spending several days in the Kruger National Park, sharing ideas and working to support global conservation efforts.

Mpumalanga, South Africa (28 February 2024) – Kruger National Park (KNP) will once again host world scientists, researchers and Protected Area Managers at the 21st Annual Savanna Science Network Meeting, which will take place from 3 – 7 March 2024 in Skukuza.

“The park will host 208 delegates representing 80 different scientific and conservation organisations from 25 countries. 99 of the delegates will be from South Africa, representing 30 institutions ranging from national and provincial government departments, academic institutions, research, NGOs and conservation agencies. The meeting will also be streamed live on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@savannasciencelivestream335” for those who would like to take part online; said SANParks Acting GM: Savanna Research Unit, Cathy Greaver.

Many topical issues in ecological and social sciences will be covered during the four days’ presentations and posters. There is a range of sessions covering various topics and these include:

• Classic ecological themes like studying ecological patterns (e.g., animal space-use patterns, large-scale biodiversity patterns),
• Understanding ecological processes (e.g., erosion, predation, plant recruitment, herbivory, fire, disease, decomposition)

This year’s program includes presentations on cultural heritage, tourism, human-wildlife conflict and co-existence, as well as the Wildlife Economy and Wildlife Crime. Presentations on cultural heritage, tourism, human-wildlife conflict and co-existence. This reflects the incorporation of expertise from diverse fields to assist in attaining conservation goals.

In order to provide a sound scientific platform from which to address the knowledge needs to manage biodiversity and protected areas in a changing world, SANParks scientists engage and collaborate with a wide range of national and international scientists, research partners and funders. A mix of basic and applied research, spanning the biophysical and social domains, strengthens research and monitoring efforts and builds stronger and deeper knowledge of the savanna systems. The close interactions between academics and park authorities facilitated by this meeting are key to promoting proactive evidence-based decision-making and directing research to address priority conservation management needs. The meeting has always valued capacity building, and as such students share the platform with world-renowned savanna scientists from across the globe.

“The idea for the Savanna Science meeting came about when a small group of scientists working on river related issues in KNP, reflecting on the impacts of the 2000 floods, started thinking that a small meeting held annually to share research findings with management, might be very useful. The scope and participation of these meetings grew quickly to include Savanna related research and delegates from many countries and organisations. This meeting is now considered the premier international savanna science conference covering socio-ecological research taking place in savannas across the globe. The conference format allows for dialogue and discussion on ecological science and conservation matters, both formally and informally in a spectacular venue, shaping our collective understanding and seeding future research collaborations and projects to fill key knowledge gaps”; concluded Greaver.

Information on the SANParks Scientific Services is found on the link below: https://www.sanparks.org/conservation/scientific_new/

Sources: Supplied

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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A line of hippos crossing a parking lot has everyone giggling – the hippo train was made up of four hippos carefully walking nose to tail.

St Lucia, South Africa (27 February 2024) – St Lucia residents are no strangers to hippos making appearances in and around town. A recent sighting has the internet giggling!

St Lucia is surrounded by wetlands that are home to around 800 hippos so one is always able to spot one or two. They often make their way into town, and it is always a spectacle. St Lucia is a settlement in Umkhanyakude District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The small town is mainly a hub for the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park which is undoubtedly the largest Hippo Population in South Africa.

The hippo groups occur in the area of iSimangaliso Wetland Park, and St Lucia is situated in the heart of this wetland. They play a vital role in nutrient distribution for the area and the species as a whole plays a role in keeping rivers healthy.

Recently, The Little Bush Baby Co. shared a video of four hippos walking in a line through their parking lot. They called it the “Hippo Train”. Take a look at the moment below:

Sources: The Little Bush Baby Co

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WWF South Africa has reacted to the release of rhino poaching numbers today, with great concern over the KZN stats – But they have a plan!

South Africa (27 February 2024) – The ongoing rhino poaching pressure in KwaZulu-Natal, where 325 rhinos were killed in the last year, is of grave concern.

The latest figures released by environmental minister Barbara Creecy today (Tuesday, 27 February 2024) indicate that 62% (307) of the total number of rhinos lost in South Africa in 2023 (499) were illegally killed in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. In 2022 a total of 448 rhinos were illegally killed in South Africa, 244 of which were in KZN.

Among a range of interventions Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is implementing, WWF will be supporting improving field ranger capacity through targeted training and improving living conditions for rangers. The organisation is also assisting Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in developing an integrity management plan to build organisational resilience.

“The province of KwaZulu-Natal has a proud record of having played a critical role in rhino conservation in South Africa when rhino numbers had dwindled to just a few hundred animals. This is why we are committing resources towards supporting the authorities in their efforts to turn the tide on illegal killing of rhinos, particularly in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.

“There is a growing recognition of the importance of professionalising rangers working on the front line of conservation efforts by improving morale and building trust within law enforcement teams. This is one tangible area of work where WWF is hoping it can make a difference. It is also imperative that we continue to focus on growing rhino numbers and increasing range as quickly as possible, through efforts such as the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project, in the hope of building resilience in the populations to guard against the poaching onslaught.” – Jeff Cooke, WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project Leader

In September last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature indicated that rhino numbers across Africa had increased by 5.2% between 2021 and 2022. Black rhino numbers rose by 4.2% from 2021 to 6,487 animals. White rhino numbers increased to 16,803 (an increase of 5.6%) – for the first time since 2012.

“While these updated IUCN populations figures provide hope, these gains remain tenuous as long as the poaching crisis continues,” Cooke said.

WWF is Working to Make a Difference!

On a national level, WWF actively supports the government’s efforts to effectively address the issue of illegal trade in rhino horn through its National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking which aims to break the illicit value chain in South Africa and beyond its borders. At a provincial level, WWF is actively supporting KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife.

WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP)

BRREP, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, aims to increase the number of Critically Endangered black rhinos by facilitating the creation of new populations. Removing black rhinos from existing populations stimulates the growth rate in the donor populations. The removed rhinos are released onto new sites to found new populations.

In the past two decades, 250 black rhinos have been moved to new project sites where they have the space to breed and thrive. More than 200 calves have been born on project sites and there are now 16 new black rhino populations in southern Africa. The project has also seen the range of black rhinos in KZN increase by more than 50%.

The WWF Khetha programme

Khetha, which launched in 2018 and is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), focuses on reducing the impact of wildlife trafficking on elephants and rhinos and people living in the South African and Mozambican landscape of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA).

Khetha takes a holistic approach to addressing wildlife crime. It is strengthening law enforcement responses such as improving ranger wellness and resilience, providing necessary rhino monitoring equipment and training prosecutors and magistrates on wildlife crime.

Khetha also focuses on the relationship between protected areas and neighbouring communities by upskilling community engagement practitioners, improving human-wildlife conflict management, engaging the youth through sports programmes, and strengthening or creating platforms for communities to be part of discussions to wildlife crime and other conservation issues.

KZN’s historic role in rhino conservation

All of Africa’s remaining 16,000 southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) emanate from a population of fewer than 100 individuals in 1920 that remained in the Umfolozi Game Reserve (now part of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park) and surrounds. Most of the black rhino (Diceros bicornis minor) south of the Limpopo River in South Africa and Mozambique originate from two remnant populations, one in the Hluhluwe and Umfolozi Game Reserves and the other in uMkhuze Game Reserve and state land to the north of the reserve, where their numbers had dwindled to fewer than 250 in the 1950s.

Sources: Supplied

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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Stranded turtle hatchlings will start washing up along Western Cape beaches and they may not always look like turtles at first; this turtle was completely camouflaged by barnacles.

Cape Town, South Africa (26 February 2024) – Rescuers spotted a bit of sea debris moving while on a walk, curious, they looked closer and saw that it was in fact a stranded turtle hatchling covered in barnacles. They acted quickly and the little turtle was saved!

It is rescues like this that help the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation save as many turtles as possible. In the coming months, more and more of these little turtles will wash up along beaches.

Stranding season usually runs from March to July each year, so the Aquarium is encouraging beachgoers to keep an eye out.

Hatchling Season

The Two Oceans Aquarium Education Foundation started preparing for Turtle Hatchling Season back in January, and the first rescues will most likely arrive very soon.

So many of these hatchlings wash up on the Western Cape coastlines because when they are born on the Northern Beaches in KwaZulu-Natal, they make their way into the ocean and towards the warm Agulhas current.

If a hatchling is lucky, it will be carried by the Agulhas Current as it turns east off the coast of the Western Cape and out into the warm Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, this isn’t easy for the tiny hatchlings, and many of them are ejected from the Agulhas Current into the cold water of the Atlantic. This water is too cold for these hatchlings to survive. They get gradually weaker and weaker as they try to return to the Agulhas – an effort that is made increasingly difficult in bad weather, barnacles taking over the little body or if the turtle has been harmed by ingesting plastic pollution.

These weakened hatchlings inevitably wash up on the Western Cape’s coast, and without human intervention, they have no chance of surviving. We have a responsibility to help these animals.

The hatchlings that wash up in the Western Cape are all taken to the Two Oceans Aquarium. Once they have been rehabilitated and are healthy enough, they are released back into the ocean.

If you would like to help the team prepare, you can do so here.

Sources: TOAF

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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An unexpected but oh-so heartwarming moment happened in the life of baby bull Phabeni after an ellie mom and daughter duo welcomed him in a way the HERD team never expected:

South Africa (22 February 2024) — Phabeni, the baby elephant orphan, recently experienced a big and unexpected highlight in his new life with HERD—the Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development team.

An oh-so heartwarming moment happened for Phabeni, HERD founder Adine Roode and elephant care-taker, Tigere after an ellie mom and her daughter essentially ‘adopted’ the baby ellie who is still finding his way as the newcomer to the herd.

Phabeni was rescued and brought to HERD’s care in November when he was only 4 months old. Since then, he has experienced a few wonderful, trunk trumpeting moments like putting on weight and meeting members of his new family.

But the recent highlight for the baby came when he was introduced to ellie mom Setombe and her daughter Klaserie.

Setombe, the oldest elephant and ‘head disciplinarian’ is known for not taking on baby elephants, though she is very protective and close with her Kaserie. If we think of Setombe as the head principal at school and Phabeni as the mischievous new child, the moment shared between them becomes even more special.

Captured on video, little Phabeni initially fed on female Lundi who is now comfortable with the baby bull. But towards the end of the video, where he tries his luck by suckling on Klaserie (who wasn’t sure how to feed properly), Setombe steps in, and something incredible happens.

Setombe let Phabeni suckle and welcomed the little one in a way the team had never seen from her before. Further, Kalserie was also determined to have time with Phabeni, marking the genesis of a most unexpected bond between the Ellie mom and daughter duo and the bull.

“Never did we think that Setombe would take to a new orphan in this way. Setombe followed Phabeni everywhere, even reversing to catch up to him. Setombe has never welcomed new babies like this and has always been purely hyper-focused on her own daughter in terms of bonding and protecting…this was a window to a new world for us. One that we were so excited to continue looking through,” shares Adine.

“Just when you think you know someone, they turn around and surprise you.”

In other good news for the baby bull, he is also earning a new nickname ‘Big Boy Phabeni’ after his recent weigh-in saw him at 157 kilograms, a big jump from his initial 122 kilograms and even January’s 136kgs!

Watch: The Full Special Moment Between Phabeni and the Ellies

Sources: Adine Roode

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Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

The post Phabeni the Orphan ‘Adopted’ By Ellie Mom and Daughter Duo! appeared first on Good Things Guy.

Two Boksburg Tigers have been liberated after two years of captivity, marking a milestone in South Africa’s wildlife protection efforts.

Boksburg, Johannesburg, South Africa (22 February 2024) – In a heartening turn of events, the Boksburg Tigers have finally been liberated from their constrained existence, marking a pivotal moment in the campaign against the captivity of exotic wildlife in South Africa.

Two majestic White Bengal tigers, confined for more than two years within the walls of a residential property in Boksburg, Gauteng, were granted their freedom on Tuesday, 20 February 2024.

For far too long, these magnificent creatures endured the confines of an urban enclosure, devoid of the natural elements essential to their well-being. Their existence, characterised by concrete surroundings and devoid of grass or trees, reduced them to mere objects of human amusement, deprived of the freedom to engage in their instinctual behaviours.

The concerted efforts of the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA), the Boksburg SPCA Inspectorate, and esteemed big cat veterinarian Dr. Peter Caldwell culminated in a meticulously orchestrated operation to secure the tigers’ release. With precision and care, the team sedated and safely transported the tigers from their confining quarters to an NSPCA Accredited Wildlife Facility, a sanctuary tailored to meet their specific needs.

The moment of liberation was bittersweet, as the tigers bounded eagerly into their newfound freedom, their senses awakened by the touch of grass beneath their paws for the first time in years. Their leaps exuded a sense of wonder and curiosity as they explored their new sanctuary, a haven free from the suffocating constraints of concrete and captivity.

The NSPCA stands resolutely against the confinement and exploitation of both indigenous and exotic wildlife for purposes unrelated to genuine conservation or sanctioned rehabilitation efforts. The release of the Boksburg Tigers represents a significant stride towards ending the inhumane practice of confining exotic species in South Africa.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations and deepest appreciation to the Boksburg SPCA for their unwavering commitment to championing the cause of animal welfare. Their proactive stance and unwavering dedication have played an instrumental role in ushering in this pivotal moment of liberation for the Boksburg Tigers and hope for the broader movement towards animal rights and conservation.

Sources: SPCA 

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Do you have something to add to this story? Please share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on Facebook & Twitter to keep up to date with good news as it happens, or share your good news with us by clicking here or click the link below to listen to the Good Things Guy Podcast with Brent Lindeque – South Africa’s very own Good Things Guy. He’s on a mission to change what the world pays attention to, and he truly believes there’s good news around us. In the Good Things Guy podcast, you’ll meet these everyday heroes & hear their incredible stories:

Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

The post Watch: Boksburg Tigers Roar to Freedom: End of Captivity Era! appeared first on Good Things Guy.