The Wise Meet The Wise, where elders & elephants intersect скачать в хорошем качестве

The Wise Meet The Wise, where elders & elephants intersect

NDLOPFU GOGOS (Elephant grandmothers) Introducing Community Grandmothers to Elephants As part of our community awareness programme, we introduce Grandmothers (Gogos) from local communities to our study elephants. Similar to the elephants we study, these matriarchs are the backbone of their societies, representing often unnoticed pillars of strength within their communities. Similar to elephants which are known for their so-called ‘senator effect’ where older individuals within their societies are respected as mentors and repositories of knowledge, the Gogos represent the moral fibre of the often-poverty-stricken communities surrounding Protected Areas and they give them guidance. Many of these Gogos have never seen an elephant despite carrying the surname ‘Ndlopfu’ which means elephant in the local dialect. Fences, development, and poverty have separated them from their natural heritage and most of these grannies have never set foot in any of the Reserves. We have always learnt from the elephants and with this program, we plan to restore and revere the collective wisdom of the grannies and present it as gifts to society. This life-changing program involves both a field day tracking our collared elephants in the Associated Private Nature Reserve, and a three-day camp at Koru Tented Camp in Balule Private Nature Reserve. Since the inception of the program, we have hosted more than 65 Gogos from the communities surrounding the Timbavati-, Klaserie-, Umbabat- and Balule Private Nature Reserves. A film by Justin Sullivan