Fishan Brave Elephant who Survived a Fractured leg

We are excited to share a report on Fishan the Survivor.

Born in 1989, Fishan, meaning ‘something smaller’, has been through many hardships over the years, but this has never stopped him from embracing life with a kind and open heart.

We have been celebrating Fishan during the month of June with Father’s Day, as we pondered the question: is Fishan the father of the herd? He certainly has incredible fatherly qualities in human terms, offering that male support to the little ones in the herd. He loves to be around the youngest elephants and spends time doing so, keeping an eye on them, keeping them company, both in the bush and in the paddock in the homestead that they share. He was castrated when he was younger due to an infection, before he was rescued from Zimbabwe and brought into our care so is not physically able to sire a calf but he has the qualities, as he’s shown, to be there as a father figure. He also shows us that you don’t need to be the strongest one in a family to be in a position of responsibility. You only need to show up, be there for the others and offer yourself to their care and protection

READ MORE IN OUR BLOG: https://herd.org.za/blog/is-fishan-the-father-of-the-elephant-herd/

Fishan enjoys foraging with the females in the bush during the day, as you might have seen in our videos shared on YouTube. In this video - https://youtu.be/SoqHVrOBhs4 -  the females stay close to Fishan, while they feed. Fishan shares his paddock in the homestead with all the young elephants and orphans (and Matriarch Tokwe) and has a close bond with them, especially Timisa. You can certainly see this bond when the elephants are all out in the wilderness together too.

Enjoy a close-up view of Fishan under the trees here - https://youtube.com/shorts/kw3m_HfKoXM - while in this video -https://youtu.be/rZbcBsqifQw, we join Fishan at his new branch buffet. He chases away young cow, Pisa but gladly lets Tokwe (Pisa’s mother) join him in feeding off the bark on the fallen tree. Tokwe and Fishan are close friends as Tokwe helps to watch out for Fishan and Fishan helps Tokwe in looking after the young ones in the herd.

It has been an incredible journey of rehabilitation and recovery to get Fishan back on his feet and to where he is today. Fishan persevered and survived the odds. He got stronger and stronger by the day and spends his days walking through and foraging in the bush happily, although now with a slight limp.

Without your generosity and kindness, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to care for, support and protect Fishan after his injury. Thank you for all your donations and adoptions for this incredible bull and survivor.

You can follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to see more moments between Fishan and his herd.

Warm Regards,

Adine and The HERD Team