Charley the elephant has been freed, the first captive elephant to be released back into nature.
Charley was said to be responding well to his transitional programme that he was moved to on Monday.
He had been in the National Zoological Garden in Pretoria for the past 23 years, prior to spending approximately 20 years in the circus.
The Elizabeth Margaret Steyn (EMS) Foundation announced this week that Charley was now at the Shambalala Private Game Reserve in Limpopo.
In a statement, the foundation said Charley, was the last elephant in South Africa's only national zoo, and the first to be released back into nature.
“This historic event is a result of years of negotiation with the South African government after the EMS Foundation (through its Towards Freedom Programme) and the Pro Elephant Network provided scientific evidence that elephants suffer in zoos and that they do not belong in captivity,” read the statement.
The foundation expressed appreciation to Barbara Creecy, the former minister of forestry, fisheries and environment, and to Deputy Minister Narend Singh for their unwavering support of the project and for putting Charlie's interests first.
The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) director of marketing, communication, and commercialisation. Nontsikelelo Mpulo, said a board decided in July 2022 that Charley needed to retire due to his advanced age.
She said Charley has contributed to the specimens at the World Class BioBank which houses tissue collections from across the country. Mpulo said the BioBank provides samples and information to interdisciplinary wildlife researchers across the world.
Students from various universities also found Charley to be useful to their studies.
Their syllabus includes animal behaviour observations. The elephants and the buffaloes are mostly selected for those studies. Some of the students were doing their studies on elephant enrichments where the ideas were implemented.
In one instance, some University of Pretoria students were collecting elephant dung to check the glucocorticoids to estimate the stress level in elephants to acquire their qualifications.
She said Charley was going to a private game reserve, because “SANBI subsequently published a call for expressions of interest for facilities that would be able to host Charley. Shambala Private Game Reserve met the requirements set out in the call.”
She added that Shambala would also provide regular health reports to SANBI for at least a year following his arrival, ensuring continued oversight and care.