Mythical elephants of the Knysna rainforest (SA).

[Dan Wound]

Hi there from a long term lurker, this is something I thought might be of interest......a day of tracking mythical elephants.

Firstly the elephants of the Knysna forest are something of a myth, there has been several programmes on the subject (two actually), proving the existance of one elephant (and currently under scrutiny). This forest is where my mother in law lives, so I am very lucky to be exposed to this terrain. Essentailly the belief is that they have long died out.

If these elephants exist it is a huge discovery as they would be the only free roaming elephants to live in the forest, no-where in Africa do elephants live like this, wild and roaming in the forest. Introduction of elephants in the past has proved unsuccesful as 'modern' elephants have no way of adapting to the forest terrain ergo the 'Mythical' Elephants of the Knysna rainforest would be a very special thing indeed.

I did hear an idea that if they existed they would be the last free roaming elephants in Africa. I think I'm wrong on this but the quote pointed to the fences around national parks, so maybe not wrong, if you know: let me know !!


(I am currently in talks with Elephant keepers at Bristol zoo to establish whether different sizes of Spoers mean different elephants, therfore proving the existance of more than one elephant).


However slight the evidence my mother in law has always harboured a beleif in their existance. She has lived there for 25 years.

It even got to a point where the slight suggestion of their existance was farcical, so long had their being been missed.

So as you can imagine proof must be all so rare for someone (My mother in law) who has spent a great deal of time in the bush there.

I have just been staying in the forest and aside from everyday forest dwelling activities (read: crucial to life chores) we decided on a days hiking to a far off spot by the river. I think, allowing for being slow on the way back due to the inclines it took 11 hours of walking. (An hour shorter on the way there).

This is what we found:-

Difficult to see but this is a footprint/spoer.

Bloody 'ell Elephant poo !!

With added dung beatles !!

Crossing the river was easier this time due to low water level but still easy to slip on a rock.

Crusader is always a winner, now with added rock lid !!

A few of the pics didn't come out such as the ones with evidence of elephant tree snacks. Sorry for the big pics but i can't re-size right now, if it's a problem I hope someone will let me know.

All the best - Dan,

 

[Bushwhacker]

That looks like an interesting trip.
I vaguely remember reading something about these elephants before.

 

[John Fenna]

Very interesting - tell us more!

 

[drewdunnrespect]

That's Ausome mate tell us more

 

[BOD]

That's interesting.

Elephants are quite easy to track in forest terrain so unless it is a very big forest and there are very few elephants somone should find sign if they continually visit the park.

If you can find someone who is researching them collect the poo. DNA analysis will enable them to establish the number of elephants.

Looks like a great forest to wander around in. What is the apex carnivore - leopard?

 

[Dan Wound]

Wandering doesn't really happen it's more bundu bashing, gaining ground is very hard work. Leopard is your man there to be sure, found a track also but the camera decided to run out of battery. The track was interesting as it was in the middle of a very dry dirt track and despite no rain for a period of weeks it's indentation was clear, deep and distinct. Must have been a particularly wet area in good clay.

Baboons are constantly around, frequently seen, it's good to learn their alpha male bark as they're a bit of a pain and although a delight to see you don't want them around camp.

We daily encounter many animals, Baum slangs (Green tree snakes), lovely animals, very friendly and sociable, Bush boks, vervet monkeys, berg vipers, baboons, puff adders (boooo!!) and then there's the more rare beasties that we have been speaking about. The birdlife is incredible.

The forest is 1200 square miles running up the coast of the indian ocean and hemmed in by a mountain range that runs the same course. Due to the size tracking is a wee bit tricky. We were so lucky as this was within 4 miles of our base/home.

Also: Bod. This isn't a park it's a RSA state owned piece of land, you need to get a permit to be there, not many people do, I would imagine 100-200 per annum (minus loggers), it's so wild and untouched it's little wonder there are no documented incedents or sightings.

This is where we stay http://www.lotusgarden.co.za/Welcome.html my mother in law's place as well as being a retreat centre it's actually a perfect base camp for forest adventures. Very little electricity but very comfortable.

I'll continue with some more info when I'm in a situation where I haven't had a few pints of real west country ale and my mind is not reeling from the excerpt from the new Bond novel (TImes, read it !!)

 

[Radix lecti]

Excellent stuff Dan,thanks for sharing.

Daz