My Darling Medwa

A Little Bit of Information on Medwa- my elephant from Elephant Whispers

I got this information at the elephant sanctuary and thought it was pretty cool so I wanted to share it with you if you were interested ☺

Medwa
Medwa, whose name means ‘thorn’ in Shona, is a 13-year-old male elephant who weighs approximately 2 tons.  He is an exceedingly intelligent elephant: one week after he was rescued from a culling operation, he had already learnt to follow five verbal instructions.  From the start, he has always been comfortable interacting with humans, often seeking out human company.  He responds positively to challenges, he enjoys learning new commands and can become quite a show off when he has mastered a new skill!

His constant, happy, calm demeanor can be thrown off by Lindiwe; his jealous streak comes out when he sees Lindiwe getting attention, or treats.  Separating them at the interaction site and in the stables easily solved this, and of course by giving Medwa the never-ending attention he so enjoys.

The wise saying that elephant never forget is proven by Medwa’s demonstration of his impressive long term memory.  Medwa recognized a guest he had been introduced to by name, eighteen months later when she again visited.  We asked Medwa to take a basket to her, she was standing with a group of guests, and without any hesitation he signled her out and gave her the basket.  He knows all the Elephant Whispers staff members by name and by listening to us calling our pet dogs, even knows their names.

In March 2008, we were all most anxious when a lump in Medwa’s mouth had to be removed in a fairly lengthy procedure.  Following this, Medwa’s mouth was a little painful and the stitches uncomfortable when eating, the softer food and tasty treats he was given during his recovery helped sustain him.  The Elephant Whispers team was most relieved when the test results on the lump were benign and delighted when Medwa quickly recovered from his ordeal; once again demanding attention and trying to steal the limelight from Lindiwe.