Blue-Eyed Albino Elephant Snares Goat As Best Friend Following Rescue

Jun 11, 2020 by apost team

In South Africa, there's a blue-eyed albino elephant calf named Khanyisa who was rescued from a poacher’s snare. She was separated from her herd and stuck in the snare for an estimated five days. It was obvious from her degenerated state that help was needed from humans, but the prognosis was far from optimistic. It was clear that Khanyisa was at a high risk for infection due to her lacerations and other wounds, and she was also malnourished.

Luckily, the Herd Elephant Orphanage found the elephant and sprayed her with a blue antibiotic foam that helped eliminate harmful bacteria. Now she's recovering at the orphanage with the help of an unlikely companion.

However, she was very reluctant to consume from her bottle, as Adine Roode, the founder of the Herd Elephant Orphanage, explains in a video from The Dodo. Khanyisa’s mouth was very sore. Therefore, a very special bottle and angle was needed in order to avoid pain for the elephant calf and encourage her to intake much-needed nutrition. It took a lot of patience and time, but eventually the ideal combination was found for the poor gal to eat comfortably.

After the first night in the nursery, Khanyisa was allowed to explore once the front gate was opened with the rising of the sun. She went directly for a larger elephant herd, but could not be integrated yet due to the risks that her wounds presented.

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Khanyisa found a friend in the meantime with one of the most unlikely of animals: a goat named Lammie. Lammie and Khanyisa have become inseparable and spend all day with one another, as you'll see in the video. Lammie accompanies her while she eats, while she wanders the property, and while she sleeps. Actually, it’s speculated that Lammie might actually be the one who sees herself as an elephant rather than a goat; when she sees herself in the mirror, she probably thinks she possesses tusks and a trunk!

Khanyisa has since developed into a rather mischievous little girl. Her favorite prank is to spray water at her human and animal friends while she drinks from her trough. When not acting like a firehose, she can be found in her favorite playgrounds: piles of mud and dirt. Lammie even joins in the fun; she can be found around the edges of the mud pits with Khanyisa frequently in the center.

When she was found, Khanyisa was never angry or spiteful towards humans. Despite her wounds all over her back and neck, the calf seemed to maintain an optimistic attitude and never faltered in her recovery, largely in thanks to Lammie the goat. Khanyisa loves to hug visitors with her leg to show affection, and she loves even more to roll around and invite others to play in the dirt with her. Even in the hot sun, she’s able to have relief from her albinism by ducking under one of the many shady shelters provided for her by loving African caretakers.

The little elephant’s eyes are very sensitive to direct sunlight due to the condition of being an albino, Roode explains. Oftentimes Khanyisa will close her eyes while she frolics about, using sound to guide herself. She is often described as a big, lovable dog who’s still growing into her body.

Would you or your friends like to be the owner of an albine elephant? How would you all take care of her once she started to grow up? Would you ride her around or try to find her an elephant family to go off with? Let us know what you think about little Khanyisa and Lammie, her goat companion! And pass this on to fellow animal lovers.