International milk drive for 600kg Limpopo baby jumbo Khanyisa

A milk drive is under way for a 600kg baby from Limpopo.

The baby is actually a little albino elephant named Khanyisa, a resident at the Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development (Herd) orphanage.

The jumbo has been living at the orphanage after being found trapped in a snare with severe injuries two years ago. She has been cared for by the sanctuary since then.

As an albino, the elephant is more visible in the bush and thus susceptible to attacks by predators. It also means her eyes are more sensitive to light. However, albino elephants have been known to survive in the wild.

It costs about R460 for one milk bottle feed.

Herd has started a crowdfunding campaign to cover the mammoth cost to raise her, which includes her bottle feeds, carers' salaries, vet bills and food.

The target is R2.3m and so far people from about the world, including SA, have donated R1.5m.

Herd founder Adine Roode said: “Khanyisa was born with the hardship of being an albino elephant in the wild, meaning that she is more sensitive to the harsh African sunlight, but she has learnt to cover herself with mud and sand to protect herself.

“She has overcome the snare wounds, the trauma of being orphaned, ill health, diarrhoea and had a blood transfusion as we fought to get her through rehabilitation.

“Without her mother's milk, we have to specially formulate milk for her and adjust it to suit her changing needs.

“Khanyisa will remain milk-dependent until about 4-6 years of age, but we will start the weaning process by reducing night-time bottles first, so she can stay overnight with the bigger herd.”

She said much of their work includes monitoring Khanyisa's milk formula — its effect on her growth, wellbeing and health, and how it needs to change to adapt to her growing needs.

“As most of the ingredients included in her milk formula are imported from overseas, the price per milk bottle makes her formula one of our highest expenses. We are working with experts to produce this locally, but many ingredients will still need to be imported as they simply aren't made in SA.

“We're excited to be working to create this local version as it will reduce costs somewhat but also reduce the amount of tins and packaging that need to be recycled or that often ends up in landfills.”

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