Mother Nature celebrated Mother’s Day in true style at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, just outside Cape Town and part of Shamwari Group, by the birth of a healthy elephant calf, which became the sixth elephant calf born at Sanbona. At this point rangers are keeping their distance to ensure Mother and calf have sufficient time to bond and as yet the sex of the calf is unknown. The herd is very protective of the youngster and have truly welcomed it into the herd, which roam free on the 54, 000 hectares of pristine wilderness.

Elephants have the longest gestation period of all mammals, carrying their young for nearly two years before giving birth. These long developmental periods are common among highly intelligent animals.

Since elephants are the largest living, and biggest brained land animal in the world there is a lot of developing for elephants to do in the womb.

At the sister property in the Eastern Cape, Shamwari Game Reserve, the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre  has released three young caracals onto the reserve who have been rehabilitating at the Centre for the past 7 months.  The orphaned caracal kittens were brought to the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre by a farmer who found them abandoned on his land. For the past seven months they have been hand reared by the veterinary nurse, feeding them with a bottle. 

They have now been successfully weaned and can hunt for themselves.