Talking to Elephants (Zimbabwe) Lawson Mabhena, Sunday News August 7, 2011 WHEN I first heard that Ms Sharon Pincott, an Australian wildlife enthusiast living with elephants near the Hwange National Park, could talk to the jumbos, I thought: well that’s a load of rubbish. Living with elephants, I could imagine as something easy for anyone with a passion for wildlife, but talking to them — that was a claim worth proving false. Then I travelled to Ganda Lodge in the Sikumi Forest bordering the national park on Monday, 1 August — that is where I got a rude awakening. The lodge was the venue for the reaffirmation of the Presidential Decree for the protection of the Presidential herd of elephants, which was done by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Cde Francis Nhema, on behalf of President Mugabe. Just before the function where Cde Nhema read the decree by the President, Forestry Commission rangers I spoke to seemed to be sure that this woman, all the way from Down Under, could talk to the biggest mammals walking the face of the Earth. But still, I was not convinced. After all formalities, at around 2pm, the moment of reckoning came. I was to travel with a photographer behind this woman who could talk to the much-feared animals. Travelling with her were a group of filmmakers who have been working on a documentary on the relationship between Pincott and the Presidential Herd of over 450 elephants. We were told the first family of elephants was hardly a kilometre away. We set off in a motorcade, Pincott in front, we at the back and two vehicles belonging to the filmmakers in-between. A family of elephants intercepted us before we had gone very far. It was the E family. There are 17 families in total and each of them named after the first 17 letters of the alphabet. From a short distance I could see various members of the E family approach Pincott who was standing through the sunroof of her vehicle. She was feeding them acacia pods and rubbing their trunks. She signalled our vehicle to come closer for a better view. I could hear her call some of the members of the family by name. In each family, members are named after the family letter. In the E family one member Pincott called to come closer was Eileen. Just when all my doubts had been cast aside, I was shocked to learn from Pincott that we were yet to visit “friendlier’’ families. How could wild elephants possibly get friendlier than allowing a human to touch them? Well, I was shocked just long enough to meet the A family. We arrived at a water point at the same time with this particular group and because of the new faces that were trespassing their territory, the family of elephants turned away and began to scatter. “Don’t worry, I will call them,’’ was all Pincott said. “Here Adele. Good girls, come here girls,’’ Pincott called out, and the whole family stopped. Adele came closer, but before she got to Pincott, greeted her matriarch — the oldest member of the family — Ania. In no time, Pincott was rubbing Adele’s trunk and having regular small talk with her.

“My relationship with the herd is such that these elephants actually accept me as one of their herd. They spend hours within a metre of my vehicle each day; bring their new-born calves right to my door to introduce them to me; sometimes rest their trunks on my bonnet; rumble to greet me; and some of them even allow me to place my hand on their tusks and to rub their trunks. “But tourists must remember that I have spent the past decade, up to eight hours each day, with these elephants. They know me; they know my voice and they know my smell. I understand their family hierarchy and their family relationships. I can read their moods. I know which ones to trust more than others.Tourists must never try to reach out and touch them, or to give them even one acacia pod. Obviously no human food is ever given to the elephants, as should be the case for all wild animals,’’ Pincott said. “Responsible safari guides can ensure that you have very close encounters with these elephants, but everyone must respect — and remember — that they are wild animals. You must remain in the safari vehicle at all times; you must keep your voices very low; and you must not stand up when around them closely. If you and your safari guide obey all of the rules, you will have a safe, and very memorable time among them.’’

Now totally devoted to elephants, Pincott met her first elephant in 1993 in an untamed wild in Africa. “I was on a business trip to South Africa, and encountered a big bull in Kruger National Park in South Africa. It was to change my life. I travelled back and forth to Africa regularly after that and met many wildlife people, and volunteered my time on various wildlife projects. “In 2000 my friend Andy Searle — who was a wildlife warden in Hwange National Park — was killed in a helicopter accident while tracking rhino. He was only 38 years old. It made me think about how short life was and that you need to be doing with your life what you really want to do. The next year, in 2001, I gave up my high-flying life in Australia — I was the information technology director for Ernst & Young Australia — to work on a full-time voluntary basis with the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe. I sold my home in Brisbane, Queensland, so that I had funds to support my voluntary work,’’ she said. Pincott made a career of studying or monitoring elephant herds in 2001. She has been working among the Presidential herd for 11 years and knows almost every single member of the various families by heart. “The year before Andy’s death, Andy introduced me to a man called Lionel Reynolds, who was working for the safari company Touch the Wild at the time. It was following Andy’s death that Lionel arranged for me to come and monitor this herd,’’ she said. The one-hour international television documentary that is presently being filmed — primarily on Forestry Commission and Dawn Properties land, bordering the Main Camp section of Hwange National Park until late September — will screen around the world next year. The story is based on the work and relationship Pincott has with the herd. “The past decade has entangled me in some tough times, and it would be unrealistic not to cover some of the issues I have faced. But mostly it will concentrate on just how extraordinary the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe really are, and the very positive Reaffirmation of the Presidential Decree,’’ she explained. It was in 1990 that President Mugabe first decreed that the habituated elephants that roam the photographic safari land bordering the Main Camp section of Hwange National Park were protected. They subsequently became known as The Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe. “They are wild, free-roaming elephants. There are no fences here, and they certainly are not hand-raised or domestic. They are an extraordinarily friendly clan of some 450 wild elephants, in 17 extended family groups. In 2001 I began assigning letters to each family group, and giving each elephant within a family group, a name beginning with that letter. Hence, you have the A family, where all family members have a name beginning with A; and you have the Ws, for example, where all family members have a name beginning with W, etc. “I know the elephants by sight and name, just like — perhaps less crazy — people recognise humans. I monitor their well-being, and their social structure and population dynamics. I’m therefore, keeping track of births and deaths, and matings and relationships both within and between different family groups,’’ Pincott, who believes can be a guardian angel to the herd, said. “Dartings are arranged when elephants are snared, and many lives are saved. They have become like family to me, and I worry about them, and love to visit with them, just like human families." Seeing Pincott talk to elephants as one would have regular talk with humans, was indeed amazing, but even more amazing was the fact that no Zimbabwean I know — myself included — has such passion for our wildlife. Said Pincott: “The Presidential Herd is a key tourist attraction for Hwange and Zimbabwe. It is a world-class tourist attraction unique to Zimbabwe. We encourage visitors from around the world to come and experience this beautiful country; to visit Hwange National Park, and as an add-on to that to come and experience the magnificence of the Presidential Elephants.’’