The Elephant Whisperer

Before ET’s arrival, Lawrence had planned to spend less time with the herd, as he wants them to remain truly wild. Hence, no other staff is allowed to interact with the herd, either. However, there is still work that needs to be done with ET, as she behaves dangerously toward cars and humans. Lawrence decides to spend more time with her.

One day Lawrence accidentally gets caught on foot near the herd. ET charges at him, but Nana appears and blocks the charge. Lawrence is awed, as he has never heard of a wild elephant blocking another’s charge to protect a human. He continues approaching the herd in the Land Rover now and is convinced Nana and Frankie know what he is trying to do, as both of them block ET’s charges at him on two more separate occasions.

Intent on targeting Lawrence, ET begins to break away from the herd to try and ambush him. On one occasion, two junior rangers and Lawrence encounter ET, who had broken away and was lying in ambush, mock charging at them. Lawrence warns the rangers not to run as doing so can turn the mock charge lethal; however, when ET breaks away and begins a second mock charge, the rangers climb up a tree. Lawrence repeatedly screams at ET, and at the last moment, she swings away and joins the herd, who have appeared on the scene. Lawrence leaves the rangers up in the tree and drives away, intending to teach them a lesson about how they endangered everyone’s lives by running. The rangers arrive back at the lodge three hours later, thoroughly chastised.

A torrential storm arrives with the start of spring. The hours-long rain causes the Nseleni river, which bisects the reserve, to flood. By the time Lawrence and Françoise arrive at the lodge to check on their guests, the river has completely overflown and given way to a new distributary. Between the flash flood and Nseleni, the lodge is completely cut off. Luckily, the rain stops just before the river reaches the building and engulfs it.

The next day, Lawrence sets out to survey the damage when he gets a call that the elephants are on the northern boundary, on the wrong side of the fence. He rushes there and finds Mandla, Nana’s firstborn, stuck on the other side, having slipped a hole in the fence made by the flooded stream. Nana and Frankie pace agitatedly; if Mandla is not brought inside soon, the elephants will break the fence. Lawrence manages to cut a hole in the fence 50 yards away at Mandla’s height and eventually draws him in. As soon as he is inside, the other elephants crowd, touch, and fan over him. Lawrence is humbled by the care and affection the elephants shower over one of their own after the latter’s ordeal.

One night, when Lawrence is taking some night staff back to their quarters, he is forced to take a detour because of a tree blocking the road. One of the staff protests, saying a tagati, an evil spirit, lives on a rock down that route. Lawrence respects their wishes and takes the longer route home. He visits the spot himself a few times later to see if he can feel anything, and he picks up on something uneasy but deems it inconsequential.

One evening when he is driving by, however, he is stuck by a strong feeling of a malevolent presence. He is too embarrassed to tell anyone else about it, but wanting another opinion, he brings David to the same spot a few weeks later, without giving the latter any context. David observes the rock for a few minutes and then turns to Lawrence and says, “Let’s get the hell out of here—now” (268).

Sangomas, or diviners who commune with the spirit world, are very well-respected in Zulu society. Some are charlatans, but many legitimately practice their “ageless art.” Françoise and Lawrence both respect local customs, and thus when their staff fall sick or there are a number of unusual mishaps, they call in a sangoma to put good muthi, or protective spells, around the space. Françoise even invites a local sangoma to receive lodge guests, some of whom enjoy the experience.

While the supernatural is a way of life in Zulu society, it also has a sinister side. Lawrence once sees smoke rising from multiple places in the surrounding village and is told that the village is burning the houses of people believed to be witches and wizards. Lawrence reflects on how the news of his communication with elephants, coupled with his refusal to allow any creatures, including snakes, to be killed on the reserve, lead many to think that he, too, has some mythical connection to the animals.

Lawrence discovers a dead wildebeest on the reserve and beside it a pair of vultures with their heads hacked off. Vultures have suddenly become poaching targets because of the belief propagated by the sangomas that dried vulture brain is powerful muthi and can help the possessor predict winning lottery numbers. Lawrence discovers that the wildebeest has been shot dead but is also loaded with toxins; the vultures have been poisoned by the carcass. The wildebeest’s tail has also been hacked off, as the tail is considered a magic wand by the sangomas.

Knowing the vulture poachers act as informers for others, Lawrence hatches a plan: He has Bheki and Ngwenya lie in wait and catch the poachers, whom they pretend to be arresting for killing the wildebeest. The interrogation reveals the two men to be working for a sangoma in the north; they have the vulture heads in a sack, while the wildebeest itself was shot by two other professional poachers, hired by the same sangoma.

Lawrence hides out of sight while one of his rangers dresses up and pretends to be a sangoma, scaring the poachers by claiming they have encroached on his land and killed his children, the vultures. The rangers pretend to serve the poachers meat from the dead wildebeest, and the poachers, terrified that they are about to be either cursed or poisoned, flee as soon as they are given a chance. Lawrence and the rangers gather up and burn all the carcasses and vulture heads. Lawrence is confident that the poachers will not return and will spread the word about the “sangoma” on the reserve to prevent other poachers from trespassing, too.

One day, when spending time with Mnumzane, Lawrence becomes aware that something has changed: The elephant has a newfound self-awareness about him. Later that day, Lawrence witnesses Mnumzane establish himself as the alpha of the herd when he charges at Nana and Frankie, both of whom subsequently display their subservience and give him way. Although Mnumzane’s relationship with Lawrence remains unchanged, the elephant henceforth no longer pays heed or gives way to vehicles, either.

A different stand-off happens between Françoise and Nana when the latter, along with Mandla and Mvula, find a weak link in the fence surrounding Françoise’s vegetable garden and destroy the whole thing. An incensed Françoise proceeds to electrically fortify the garden fence the very next morning.

Lawrence goes down to inspect the dam overflow wall after reports that it has been damaged by the elephants. While there, he spends some time observing the wildlife around, eventually stretching out on the bank for a doze. He is suddenly awoken by a gut feeling and sees Max, drinking at the water’s edge, being stealthily stalked by a crocodile. Lawrence screams at his dog, and at the last minute, Max turns and flees, narrowly escaping death-by-crocodile.

Lawrence and Max wait in the car, watching the crocodile emerge on the far side of the bank a little later. It is a new arrival, possibly having made its way to the reserve during the recent flood. Lawrence reflects on how it is now entitled to the same protection extended to all life at Thula Thula and knows it will be happy here.

Lawrence gets a call from David about having found another dead rhino. When Lawrence arrives on the scene, he discovers that rather than by poachers, the rhino has been killed by Mnumzane. In the nearby foliage, Lawrence catches sight of the rhino’s orphaned two-year-old daughter, Heidi.

Lawrence reassures David that he is not going to shoot Mnumzane but knows he has a big problem at hand. When Lawrence finds Mnumzane, the elephant’s body bears the scars of the bloody battle. Lawrence berates him angrily before driving off. He continues to chastise the elephant for the next few days, finally and serendipitously catching the elephant near the site of the kill. When Mnumzane walks away from Lawrence while he is talking to the beast, Lawrence believes Mnumzane has finally gotten the message. The elephant never harasses another rhino again.

Shortly after this, David and his parents emigrate to England. It is a melancholy day when David leaves, but unlike the first time, he lands on his feet in England, joining the British Army. David eventually does a tour of combat in Afghanistan where his outdoor skills and natural leadership qualities stand him in good stead.

Thula Thula experiences its first and only snakebite crisis in 60 years. Lawrence hears about two zebra that died on the reserve from black mamba bites, the latter being the most dangerous snake in the country, with enough venom to kill about 40 adults at once. Some days later, Biyela, the gardener, alerts Lawrence that he saw a mamba enter a small, fenced-off courtyard.

As the men move closer, they see a tail disappear into the adjoining bedroom window. They cannot find the snake, but shortly after, they find Bijou growling at not a mamba, but a spitting cobra inside, which is the same color on top as a mamba. Relieved, Lawrence retrieves it using a broom—he eases the bristle head underneath the snake where it collapses onto the broom and is carried out to be released into the wild. Lawrence explains the broom technique to some trainee rangers, explaining it can only be done with a cobra and only when the snake is in an upright attack position.

However, some days later, Brett, a trainee, attempts the technique with a black mamba and gets bitten. Lawrence learns that Brett and some other rangers saw the mamba in the courtyard, and Lawrence realizes Biyela was right: He had, in fact, seen a mamba, and the spitting cobra probably fled to the bedroom when confronted with the mamba. After Brett is bitten, the mamba is shot dead. Brett, who is only nicked on the finger by a fang, nevertheless has to be rushed to intensive care, where he fights for his life over the next couple of days. It is a story that is never forgotten by the trainees.