Elephant handler in the
wilderness of the
Okavango Delta, Botswana
Position
Title: Elephant
guardian/handler/
manager
Short
Description: Elephant
handling, husbandry and interpretation.
Detailed
Description:
THE
ELEPHANTS
We have 3 African Elephants;
Jabu, a 25 year old
bull; Thembi, a 25 year
old cow; and
Morula, a
34 year old cow. Jabu
and Thembi (female)
have been with us for
24 years and
we have had Morula for
about 18 years. They are all fairly easy going. Jabu is big for his age,
about 11 feet at the shoulder and extremely well natured. Thembi is very smart and
needs consistent,
competent handling. Morula is generally very relaxed. We currently
have just 1 local handler, who we trained, assisting us. We
manage the trio on a supervised free-range basis, which means handlers accompany them as
they forage in the bush
during the day. We guide, monitor, follow, call and direct them in their natural environment. At night they come back to
an
enclosure.
WHAT WE
DO
We have
two organizations.
1) Grey Matters is a business
enterprise which is
responsible for the daily upkeep of our
elephants through high end tourism. We work in conjunction with
Abercrombie & Kent/
Sanctuary Retreats Botswana, a worldwide travel company. Guests stay in one of two lodges in the area
and spend the morning with us participating in an interactive
educational elephant
experience. The
elephant trio
are the main
attraction
to the lodges.
2) Living With Elephants is a very
small NGO. Its main project is an educational one which brings local children to
our camp for
two days. LWE's overall mission is to encourage harmonious relationships
between people
and elephants. LWE is also charged with securing the
long term future of the
elephant trio.
THE ELEPHANT
ACTIVITY
"The "elephant activity" is an interactive educational
experience that takes place in the wilderness of the Okavango Delta with our
three African elephants. During this activity, international guests
from two eco-tourism safari camps, as well as groups of local
children, have a chance to
approach, study and interact with our elephant
trio. The successful candidate would
need to become competent at safely
liaising
between
elephants and guests as well as
interpreting elephant
biology, behavior,
and natural history. So good communication skills
are essential. An ability to relay the Trio’s story and Living With Elephant's
Vision, in a way that meets the needs of
both organizations and the future of the trio, is important. The elephant activity is
about 4 hours in
duration and is conducted an average of 5 days a
week. We do have a high and low
season. The successful candidate would
share the responsibility of conducting the
activity as well as
general management of the elephants.
Note: the children’s educational
program is currently mothballed but will hopefully be revived in the
future.
OUR
LOCATION
Our camp is based in the southern
part of the world famous Okavango Delta, in a
Community Based Natural Resource Management Area called Ng 32. Our camp is 2.5 -
3 hours drive from Maun or 10 minutes by air. The scenery of this area is
typical of the Okavango
Delta, one of our planets most pristine and
beautiful natural wilderness areas, and it is rich in spectacular flora and fauna.
LIFESTYLE
The successful candidate would be working and living very closely with ourselves in a beautiful and isolated area and an ability to self entertain and a
fairly easy going disposition are essential in this unusual living and working
environment.
Current camp facilities are fairly basic. We
have limited electrical power, generated by a small solar system from which we run lights, laptops and charge various batteries. We have a communal shower with
wood heated water
and everyone pitches in with chores like cooking dinner. Accommodation is in the
form of a large (3m x 5m) tent with comfortable bedding and equipment.
We have a fairly large
library that
the successful
candidate would be free
to tap into! The camp has an internet connection but no
telephone
service.
The camp and elephant facilities
might receive
significant upgrading in 2013 but at the moment the above applies.
Responsibilities:
a) First and foremost in terms of
our operational needs, is the handling and husbandry of our elephants. Our aim
is to find someone who
can assist
Doug and Sandi with the elephants and allow
them more personal
time and will be the primary criteria upon
which we would
base the success of the
relationship.
b) The successful candidate
would be trained to
handle the elephants in a manner and level consistent with our needs and
methods.
c) We hope that
eventually
the successful candidate would be able to conduct the elephant
activity without Doug’s
assistance. The first
step, however, would require proficiency
in the handling of all 3 elephants.
e) We also need some assistance in staff supervision and training and hope that Doug and the
successful candidate could work together to train in 3 or 4 local handlers to
relieve our current staffing
bottleneck.
f) We are ultimately hoping to
achieve a situation were responsibility, in a number of areas, can be
shared.
The four first requirements are
essential:
-- Must be ready to relocate to
Botswana’s Okavango Delta, to live in a pristine natural environment.
-- At least two years experience
working in a free contact environment with male and female elephants, some experience with African
elephants and demanding elephants would be preferred.
-- Must enjoy an outdoor bush lifestyle, be
physically fit and heat
tolerant.
-- Must have good cross-cultural
communication skills for working with local staff and international
tourists.
The following abilities would also
be helpful:
-- A comprehensive knowledge of
elephant behavior and ecology. Any related degrees or coursework in mammal
biology and ecology, in animal husbandry, in natural history and in
animal training would
be helpful for the
guest interactions.
-- Maintenance skills
-- Mechanical skills, off-road driving
experience
-- Bush survival skills, first aid
training; tolerance
of insects, spiders and
snakes.
-- General interest in botany and
zoology
Reimbursement:
We would provide:
1)
tented accommodation
in camp
2)
food and
beverage in
camp.
3) road or air transfers to and from Maun on
scheduled trips.
5) Botswana based medical insurance
would be provided.
6) A
monthly salary.
7)
There are virtually no living costs (other than personal or luxury items)
associated with being in camp.
Contact
Information
Name:
Doug and Sandi Groves
Title: Directors
Organization: Grey Matters
Address: P.O. Box 66, Maun, Botswana
Phone: ++ 267 75502128
Facebook:
Douglas A. Groves/ Sandi
Groves
Please see below for further
background material!
1.
GM
Profile and Background
Grey
Matters was formed in 1994 as a commercial operation to provide tourists to
Botswana with the Elephant
Experience, and the opportunity to meet, interact, observe and learn about
elephants in their natural habitat.
The owners of GM, Doug
and Sandi Groves met and fell in love in
1990 in Natal, South Africa when Doug was training
and caring for orphaned elephants and other animals in a wildlife reserve and
Sandi was a graduate zoology student. Doug started his carrier in 1972 in the
USA where he had gained much experience working with elephants
in zoos and safari parks in Oregon, Washington,
California and elsewhere. He has worked under
some of the masters in the metier. His experience is broad, encompassing young
and mature, male and female, African and Asian elephants. He came to South
Africa in 1987 on a ship with a number of Africa elephants as the expert
elephant trainer to film “Circles In The Forest’’
filmed in Knysna, South Africa .
Doug decided to stay in Africa and make a future with elephants.
Doug and Sandi adopted
the two insecure orphaned elephant calves, Jabu and Thembi, from the
Karkloof Falls Nature
Reserve
and moved
to northwestern South Africa
where they launched various commercial endeavours with their elephants including
further
filming and advertising. The little bull, Jabu
(short for the Zulu word for “happiness”) and his female friend, Thembi, had
been orphaned during culling operations in the Kruger National Park. In
1994 Doug and Sandi also rescued a 17 year old elephant cow, now named Morula, who was otherwise going
to be destroyed. With Doug and Sandi, all
three elephants found much kindness, love, security, and leadership, and have
developed into remarkably contented and well adjusted family members, now fully
grown and very impressive and experienced elephant
ambassadors. Over the years Doug and
Sandi have developed, blended and honed a unique and soft but disciplined
approach with their elephants resulting in well balanced happy
elephants.
In 1994 GM were invited
to set up an elephant tourism project in Botswana and so they relocated there.
When that operation was disbanded after a few years, GM relocated to the East
side of the Delta and subsequently reached an agreement with Abercrombie and
Kent to provide their unique Elephant Experience to visitors to A & K’s
Sanctuary Retreats lodges: Stanley’s and subsequently Baines. This agreement
dates back to 2000 and remains in place.
It is noteworthy that in
addition to their commercial operations, Doug and Sandi have a not-for-profit
foundation called Living with Elephants. LWE is dedicated to
relieving conflict and competition between the African Elephant and human
populations in Botswana. They do this primarily by harnessing
the emotive power of their elephant trio in educational programs
which encourage a harmonious relationship between elephants and
people
sharing range. Doug and Sandi provide
local communities and groups of school children with the Elephant Experience
free of charge and accommodate and facilitate others engaged in this endeavour.
See www.livingwithelephants.org for more details.
2.
Current
Modus Operandi
GM have their own
separate, self-contained camp a few kilometres from Stanley’s Lodge. The camp
is simple. There is a small staff of assistant elephant handlers and labourers
accommodated in their staff camp. The elephants are confined to an enclosure at
night where they receive extra feed and mopane browse.
During the day, the
elephants are taken into the bush to feed, mud-bathe, and otherwise enjoy being
elephants. They roam freely accompanied by the handlers who guide and control
them with voice commands. When necessary,
handlers
ride on the elephants to cross water, avoid buffalo etc. The elephants are
usually brought back to the camp to give the handlers a break for
lunch.
A photographic safari
partner markets the Elephant
Experience
worldwide.
Visitors usually book the Elephant Experience in advance but can also book in
the lodges - depending on
availability. After breakfast, groups of up to 10 guests are taken by vehicle
into the bush to meet up with Doug, Sandi and the elephants. After initial
safety instructions, Doug teaches the guests about elephants in general and the
trio in particular. Guests are given the opportunity to meet and interact with
the elephants under Doug and Sandi’s careful supervision. They get to touch
them and observe details close up. A leisurely walk through the bush alongside
the elephants follows with opportunities to see other wild game, and for
Doug to
share anecdotes and his knowledge of the
environment and elephants. A licensed armed
guide
accompanies the walk in case of
emergencies. Photo opportunities are given along the way to the picnic site
adjacent to a lagoon. The lodge has prepared the table under the trees and an
excellent meal and drinks are served with the foraging elephants present.
After lunch and further interactions with the elephants, the guests are
collected by vehicle and taken back to the lodge.
The elephants require
care, watering, feeding excursions, behaviour reinforcing, and much attention
every day of the year. Very occasionally veterinary attention is required.
Doug manages all this. Sandi is also a very experienced and competent elephant
handler/ trainer with 20 years of experience.
GM have developed a
winning formula in the provision of an inspirational tourist experience.
International and local visitors (including 250 local school children a year)
often reflect that the experience shared with them is life-changing and the best
thing they have ever done. Many are so moved that tears are common. The
experience of walking through the real wilds of Africa with free elephants is
unforgettable especially with the emphasis placed on reverence, celebration,
connecting with, learning about, understanding and a general passion for
elephants. GM have over 20 years experience providing the above mentioned
experience to people.
Grey Matters is proud of
its impeccable safety record regarding both the humans and the elephants
involved in its program and are pleased to be able offer their elephants an
excellent quality of life with large amounts of relative freedom. GM value
their inter-species relationship, which is based on mutual trust and
respect.
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