There is just one elephant left in the Knysna Forest.
A report released on Wednesday paints a heartbreaking picture of a highly sociable animal wandering stressed and completely isolated through the forest.
The elephant cow is the last member of herds that retreated from hunters’ guns and expanding farmland and sought shelter in the forest more than a century ago.
SANParks scientist Lizette Moolman, who initiated the study, said the lone elephant had swollen temporal glands and fluid streaming down the side of her face.
“This suggests she may be stressed, potentially due to her solitary existence,” she said.
For the SANParks study, camera traps were deployed over the whole possible elephant range in the Knysna Forest.
“Because elephants move along defined elephant pathways, we placed our cameras on these paths and covered their range evenly,” she said.
“Over the 15-month study, this female was identified in 140 capture events, always by herself. No other elephants were photographed.”
A SANParks trial study in 2014-2015 had already rung alarm bells when it only identified one elephant.
“It was concerning, as elephants are highly social land mammals and females are always seen with other herd members.
“They do not live in isolation,” Moolman said.
Only a handful of cameras, most without the new blackflash capability, had been used in that study, however, and SANParks realised a more comprehensive study was needed.
Blackflash allows an animal to be photographed at night without emitting a visible light source.
“Before blackflash camera traps were available, SANParks attempted to capture the Knysna elephants with a few camera trap units that used the old incandescent flash systems.
“However the elephants, probably startled by the bright flash lights, broke all of these cameras,” Moolman said.
Having retreated into the forest in the 1700s and 1800s, the herd gradually declined, probably because of continued hunting as well as the poor quality of food in the forest.
The remaining elephant appeared to be about 45 years old and therefore still at a reproductive age, but it was possible she had never had a calf, Moolman said.
“It is uncertain if she ever even experienced a mating event.
“Even if she did have a calf now, female elephants learn to be mothers from a young age in a herd consisting of adult females who help them.
“Since when has she been alone? Has she ever had siblings?
“This is unknown and therefore her ability to deal with a mating event, or a pregnancy or motherhood, without the help from family members, is unknown.”
Referring to the 2007 DNA study co-authored by environmentalist Gareth Patterson that found there were at least eight elephants in the forest, Moolman said even if that report had been correct then it was clearly not the case now.
“Whether there are one, two or three elephants, we can safely say that the Knysna elephant is under threat.”
The new study showed that the elephant was moving in the forest and a section of fynbos contained within the Garden Route National Park as well as on three adjacent private properties, Moolman said.
SANParks officials were in the process of working out different options, including bringing in more elephants or relocating the survivor to another herd outside the forest.