Garden Route – Mossel Bay’s Botlierskop Private Game Reserve has announced that its new baby elephant is to be called ‘Tshema.’ “He was born on the 28th of August to the stars of our elephant-back safaris, Sam and Tsotsie,” said the Reserve’s marketing manager, Francina Terblanche. “His name is derived from the Venda world for ‘surprise’ – which is exactly what he was to all of us here on the Reserve.”Botlierskop is one of a growing number of game farms in the Mossel Bay area which have opened their doors to the public.”Mossel Bay isn’t traditionally associated with big game, but it is, in fact, an ideal game-viewing destination,” said Mossel Bay Tourism’s marketing director, Louis Harris. “This is both because of its position on the Garden Route – it lies half way between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth – and because it offers malaria-free experiences of the fynbos, which is a unique form of the African bush that grows in the Cape and nowhere else on earth
“The elephants’ presence here is an important part of the mix of adventures and activities in Mossel Bay,” he said.
Ms. Terblanche said that the Reserve offers up to four elephant-back safaris a day plus a Picnic-with-the-Elephants at lunch-times as well as elephant-feeding excursions.
“Viv Bristow, who owns the elephants, believes very strongly in environmental education,” she said. “Interacting with these animals is an important and very effective way of getting the environmental message across.”
Sam and Tsotsie were both rescued from elephant culling operations – Sam from a cull in Zimbabwe and Tsotsie from one in the Kruger National Park. Both are now about twenty years of age.
Tshema – who weighed between 60 and 80 kg at birth – was named by Mossel Bay resident Louis Anderson, who was presented with a complimentary elephant-back safari for his efforts.
More information at www.visitmosselbay.co.za/play/adventures.html
