Vienna/Pretoria, 04 September 2024 – Yesterday, elephant Charley was released into a new enclosure at Shambala Private Reserve, where he can now roam one hectare in the savanna and start foraging for food by himself. With a special feeding and trust-building program, the African elephant is step by step prepared for his life in the wild by an expert team of global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS and his future caretakers in Shambala. Charley is rapidly adapting to his newly won liberties after he was saved from life-long abuse for human entertainment in a circus and zoo.

Feeding feast and elephant footcare to get ready for the wild

His new enclosure has a pool and a mud bath, which are important for elephants’ skincare. The new enclosure serves as an important step for his later release into the 12,000 hectare reserve, where he can decide to join one of the two elephant groups or to live alone. To get Charley ready, a lot still needs to be done. He is currently taught to come back to his safe space in the enclosure, which is important for example for future veterinary examinations.

“In the wild, elephants walk up to 150 kilometers per day”, explains Dr Marina Ivanova. “We are helping Charley to slowly build up the needed muscles for his big release into the entire reserve. He is on a special diet to gain weight for his life in the wild. We are teaching him how to pick fresh branches from trees, which are important for his digestion. His favorite food are pumpkins, which he absolutely loves and devours rapidly”, she adds.

His captivity has left deep wounds that are now starting to heal. Charley’s nails are having deep cracks from inappropriate keeping and need special attention. In Shambala, Charley already started his own foot care by shaping them through rubbing on rocks, like wild elephants do.

For his final release into the entire reserve, Charley who is currently weighing five tons, still needs to gain at least more than hundred kilograms. So, every day he is fed with a rich diet of up to 130 kg of seasonal vegetables, fruits, hey and branches.  

The sad story of Charley with a happy ending

Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS, Elizabeth Margaret Steyn (EMS) Foundation and Shambala Private Reserve have worked in collaboration for his retirement to the 12,000-hectare Shambala Private Reserve in Limpopo. Before being retired to Shambala Private Reserve on August 19^th this year, Charley has spent most of his life in captivity. He was born in 1982 in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. He then was captured when still a youngster to perform at Boswell Circus two years later in South Africa. When his owner faced charges of animal cruelty for beating his elephants and not providing them with enough water and shade, Charley was transferred to a zoo in Pretoria in 2001, where he spent more than two decades alone in a barren enclosure. He has shown signs of distress, including repetitive head-swaying— a behaviour commonly found in captivity and has started to recover.