By Sunel Craythorne | Fundraising Administrator
Dear HERD Family and Friends
Warm greetings from HERD.
We are excited to give a report on Fishan.
Fishan was born around 1989, and he was part of the original herd that was rescued from Zimbabwe. He has a close bond with elephant cow Bubi. He frequently watches over the younger elephants in the herd, which bulls don’t tend to do. In 2018, he fractured his front left leg after stepping in a deep hole.
Following a long procedure of x-rays, rehabilitation, casts and TLC from veterinarians and our HERD carers, he healed well and is able to walk again with relative ease, although he does have a bit of a limp and his fractured leg is not symmetrical. After he injured his leg, he started sleeping on his left side, as that allows him to use his right legs to stand up. This led to him developing a pressure sore on his injured leg.
This pressure sore is treated daily – our elephant carers clean the wound every morning.
As a result of his injury, Fishan could no longer share a sleeping area with his friend Bubi and her son Zindoga, as a bull like Zindoga might challenge him during the night. He now shares a sleeping area in the homestead with Matriarch Tokwe and the youngsters: Tokwe’s biological daughters, Limpopo and Pisa, and her adoptive daughters, Kumbura and Timisa. Fishan has bonded a lot with the youngsters because of this. He has also become closer to Tokwe, who helps to protect him and often walks with him when the other elephants walk too far ahead.
Fishan moves remarkably well across the bush, and manages inclines and declines surprisingly well. He especially loves swimming and mud baths, and if the weather is warm and the pool a little empty, he will happily lie down in the water or mud. He has always loved swimming, so it’s great that he is able to continue this pastime.
Fishan is always very careful and nurturing around younger elephants in his herd but is good at standing up for himself around more boisterous bulls. Fishan’s injury led to younger bull, Jabulani challenging him and eventually usurping him in dominance. Fishan is now third in dominance and Jabulani second.
Fishan continues to do well and is walking confidently. As winter has set in, we have started to give him pain killers and anti-inflammatories to help him with his leg – as it gets stiffer in the colder weather.
His herd care for him greatly and if he every strays too far behind, our carers or some of the elephants in the herd will be sure to keep an eye on him. One day, Fishan got a little lost in the thick bush and trumpeted as he found that he was all alone. We couldn’t see him clearly but the herd started running to his rescue.
Fishan and Tokwe have a close bond, and their bond has only strengthened since Fishan’s leg injury. Fishan is very much a strong member of his blended family and we’re greatly appreciative of fosters and donors who help us to support, protect and care for him, since he is now more reliant on our aid.
Something Interesting on how to identify Fishan:
Fishan has thick tusks that point outward. His right tusk is worn down on the side. From the front, his ears appear to have pointed tips. There is a small triangular gap near the top of his right ear, as well as a few small holes along the side of the ear. His head is more angular than those of the other bulls. Due to his 2018 leg fracture, there is a slight bend in his front left leg, near his foot. There is a circular scar further up this leg, due to the pressure sore he developed from sleeping on his left side after his injury. He has very long legs, and he has a slender body that is not as wide as those of the other bulls. He has uneven tail hair – one side has sparse hair and the other side has almost no hair.
We are grateful for all your support, Fishan would not have gotten this far without your help.
We look forward to continuing to have you on this journey with us and to keep sharing Fishan’s recovery with you.
Warms Regards
Adine and the HERD Team
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