The Elephant Whisperer

Throughout Africa, a boma refers to an enclosure or fort used to contain and protect livestock. However, it is also used in wildlife conservation in multiple ways. A boma can be used to habituate a newly introduced animal into its home, as is done with the herd when they first arrive at Thula Thula. It can function as a quarantine pen, where animals that have suffered sickness or injury are kept for intervention. Animals that are captured for relocation can also be placed in a boma while the logistics are worked out: Anthony uses the boma in this way with the nyala, which Nana subsequently sets free from the enclosure.

Muthi or muti is a traditional practice in Zulu culture in South Africa, where the magical qualities of plants and animals are used to manage the supernatural world. Any ailment is seen as both physical and supernatural, and the right kind of muthi is believed to solve everything from a headache to a curse. In the book, Anthony often uses the services of a sangoma, or diviner, to help put good muthi when there are illnesses or unusual mishaps.

A sangoma is a diviner who practices the art of magic in Zulu culture. In The Elephant Whisperer, Anthony and his wife sometimes recruit the services of a sangoma out of respect for their staff and the local customs. It is also the sangomas who begin the practice of using dried vulture brain to supposedly predict winning lottery numbers—a practice Anthony defends his reserve against by having one of his staff pose as an angry sangoma.