A truly Good News conservation story
It’s been six months since joyous news was welcomed by the conservation and tourism communities of the successful translocation of a formerly captive elephant into a private wildlife reserve in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Tswale, an adult male African elephant, had spent more than twenty years in confinement in the lowveld before a landmark legal decision secured his release. As careful preparations began to wean him from the care of his handler, there was cautious hope that he would be able to return to a truly wild and free state in his new home at the Bellevue Forest Game Reserve, near Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). And so, on a beautiful spring day in September 2025, Tswale took his first steps towards freedom.
Since that day, Tswale has flourished and thrived in Bellevue’s forested mountains, accepted instantly and without question by the small resident family of seven elephants that had previously been translocated from the nearby Addo Elephant National Park. Being more mature than the three young resident bulls, he soon cemented his position as gentleman protector of the herd, while the younger males tend to hang out together in a bachelor group.
According to Bellevue’s Executive Chairman Loodt Buchner, it has been wonderful to observe how seamlessly the transition from captive to free-ranging animal has evolved. “There is no indication that he was habituated to humans. He does not approach vehicles or people, nor is there any aggression whatsoever,” says Buchner. “He is a calm and gentle soul. But he does subtly display a level of awareness in the way he carefully insinuates himself between the herd and our guided vehicles, always keeping a respectful distance. It is as if he is ensuring that none of them might ever come too close to humans. And that is exactly how it should be. His days of being touched and handled are behind him now, and he should live out his days in undisturbed dignity”.
Tswale has twice been seen in a state of musth and who knows? Perhaps one of the adult cows has shown him a little Jumbo love. Could Bellevue be seeing the next generation of Tswale’s genes one of these months?
“That would be the most amazing addition to this great story,’ says Buchner. “Our vision for this land is to restore it fully to its natural state, including rewilding animals like Tswale that find sanctuary here. To know that he has found a mate after all these lonely years would be the ultimate reward. Just imagine – the first ever Bellevue-born elephant would once again make history in the best possible way. We are watching in eager anticipation!”
To find out more about Bellevue’s rewilding vision and new developments, follow us on socials, and contact us to book a visit to Tswale’s new home. www.bellevueforest.co.za.
