An Incredible Swim with Albino Elephant, Khanyisa & Her Babysitters: Limpopo, Tokwe & Fishan 🐠

This beautiful new swim, captured by Elephant Manager Tigere, really shows Khanyisa’s unique colouring as an albino elephant! Especially compared to the other elephants in the herd.

She has a glorious paddle and roll in the water beside allomother Limpopo, with big bull and assistant-babysitter/guardian Fishan. It’s beautiful to see how this older bull cares about the safety of the younger elephants in his family and often offers an extra trunk or gaze over them.

Limpopo’s mother, matriarch Tokwe arrives soon to make sure all is well, and as she swims deeper into the waterhole, little Khanyisa’s pink body follows after her with her tiny trunk acting as a snorkel when she goes underwater.

The trunk enables elephants to breathe while submerging themselves in the coolness of a dam, while their feet and buoyancy as large animals also play a role in helping with swimming.

Khanyisa has had to learn how to swim over the months since she arrived at HERD after being rescued as an orphan at 4 months of age. Elephants are naturals in the water but the art of swimming is something they have to learn when they’re young. The mothers and allomothers around them help guide them and protect them as they practice their swimming, just like humans.

Khanyisa has come a long way thanks to her herd helping her and she has certainly perfected bobbing around and swimming across the water.