Knysna Elephant Park

Knysna Elephant Park

Get up-close-and-personal with nature at Knysna Elephant Park. With the help of our resident African elephants and our well-informed guides- you will learn about the sad and mystical story of the Knysna Elephants. The park offers a rare opportunity to get close to these gentle giants, who live in a controlled, free range environment in the heart of the famous Garden Route in South Africa.

The Elephants at Knysna Elephant Park are all orphans rescued from culling operations in the Kruger National Park, except for Thandi who was born here. The Knysna Elephant Park provides these elephants with the best board and lodging. Their diet is scientifically supervised by veterinarians. They have free range of the 60 hectare camp on which there is plenty to eat, some big trees to rub up against and two large dams for bathing and drinking.

The vegetation in the camp is a mixture of indigenous Cape Fynbos (macchia), indigenous forest and grassland, although surrounding areas have pine and gum plantations. The elephant minders take the elephants for regular strolls through the forests and plantations in the mornings and evenings which adds interesting variety to their diet.

At night the elephants are housed in a boma. The Elephants are fed a high protein porridge and black wattle branches at night. Their stalls are lined with sawdust providing a comfortable bed for them to sleep on. In the morning they are fed the high protein porridge and move onto the first dam for a drink of water.

Their stalls are cleaned and prepared for the evening. The baby elephants, Bulelo, Malaika and Jabari are bottle-fed on baby milk formula with added vitamins and minerals on demand throughout the day and the night. They each have to have a minder that stays with them constantly. The elephant minders are some of Africa’s most qualified keepers and they keep a watchful eye on the herd.