From the RiverBend newsletter: "It was with great sadness that we had to say goodbye to Addo's oldest matriarch elephant this month. Avril died on Sunday, the 17th laying down her head at the waterhole just behind our Villa. The elephants came in huge numbers, to say goodbye and her grandson stayed with her for more than 2 hours..."
R.I.P Avril. 1948 – 2010.
A little Addo history...
After many years of being persecuted, the Addo Elephant National Park was finally established in 1931 and the remaining 11 Addo elephants found a sanctuary. With this small number of elephant, researchers found it quite simple to identify and research the remaining 11 elephants. One of the first births during this era was Avril’s older sister, born in 1938. 10 Years later in 1948 Avril was born, destined to become to new matriarch of the 100-odd strong herd in the Nyathi concession of the Addo Elephant National Park. In 1955 and in 1968, two of Avril’s sisters were born; they are now at the forefront of leading the herd, although new matriarchs seemingly have not been established. Interestingly, in 1964 another sister was born who does not appear to be in the running for new matriarch.
Unusual Elephant Behavior
In January 2009 Avril could not keep up with the herd any longer and since then she remained in the vicinity of the lodge for most of the time, with the herd moving around the concession in their normal patterns. During the last few months they did not really spend time with Avril and moved through the lodge area without really taking notice of her. The herd remained in the North Eastern side of the concession for most of January 2010, but on the 17th of January 40-odd of the herd led by Avril’s sister Des, born in 1955 arrived at the lodge. Avril was drinking at the waterhole in front of Long Hope and for the first time in a while the herd actually spent time with her. Where they normally did not really bother interacting with her, this time they spent most of the morning with her. At around 16:00 that afternoon, the herd moved away and walked all the way back to the North Eastern part of the concession where they came from, roughly 15km’s away. Very peculiar, considering that they normally remain in the lodge area for weeks when they arrive. When our vehicles arrived at the scene, Avril was on the ground and she had a few tusk wounds, one behind her right ear and one in her right shoulder.
Elephants and Death
We did not witness this happening, but the wounds appear to have been made when she was lying down, indicating that a bull tusked her after she went down. One could get very emotional about this behaviour, maybe the bull was trying to put her out of her misery, who knows, but that’s what I would like to believe. We remained with her for another 3 hours while she was lying on the ground and one of her older grandsons also remained behind and quietly stood a few meters from her, motionless. Elephants can communicate from 3 decibels; humans only hear from around 21 decibels and I would like to think that they were communicating in her last hours. The young bull (born in 1994 to one of her daughters, Blossom) moved away around 19:00 after which she quietly passed away.
The elephants arrived back in the lodge area a few days later and interestingly have not yet been to Avril’s carcass in the last two weeks since she died. We will monitor them closely and keep you updated. The oldest elephant in the park left us, her memory will remain with us and her younger sisters will certainly make use of all the information they gained from Avril to lead the herd into the future.
RIP Avril. 1948 – 17 January 2010.
Thank you to Lorraine Malherbe of RiverBend for allowing us to publish this moving tribute to Avril.
Game Lodge Holidays in Addo, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Enjoy Portfolio-approved Addo Elephant Park accommodation at
RiverBend Lodge.
Anchored on endless horizons, flanked by the majestic Zuurberg mountains and set on a 14 000-hectare private concession within the malaria-free Addo Elephant National Park, RiverBend is a mere 45-minutes drive from Port Elizabeth. Home to an abundance of wildlife including elephant, lion, hyena, buffalo, black rhino and a variety of antelope with over 300 bird species. The eight individually decorated suites have private verandahs, some with private outdoor showers which open onto the bushveld.
For stunning 5 Star Eastern Cape accommodation at RiverBend Lodge within Addo Elephant National Park, contact Portfolio Collection now.
(All images courtesy RiverBend Lodge)
