Historic release: South Africa's last zoo elephant returns to wild

Charlie, the last elephant in South Africa’s national zoo, has been released back into the wild after 40 years of captivity, BBC reported.

Captured from Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park in 1984 at just two years old, Charlie was initially sent to Boswell Wilkie Circus in South Africa, where he was trained to perform.

He later transferred to the National Zoo in the early twentieth century. For the last few years, animal rights activists have been calling for his release because of what appears to be a deteriorating health condition.

On Tuesday, a charity organisation for wildlife rights, EMS Foundation, stated that Charlie had “a death-defying four-hour journey to liberty” and was relocated to his new abode at Shambala Private Reserve in Limpopo province. 

This was termed a ‘historic event’ as a result of the long and weary negotiations with the South African government based on scientific evidence compiled on the suffering of elephants in mortal confinement.

In the zoo, Charlie saw the death of four other elephants and amongst them his baby. People’s worries regarding his apparent state of distress were voiced in 2019: the South African National Biodiddy Institute, which manages the zoo, downplayed them with references to his circus past.

The EMS Foundation dismissed this view as “misleading. ”

Animal welfare organization Four Paws which partnered with EMS Foundation for the exportation lauded the development as a success not only to Charlie and organizations with similar cultures in South Africa.

“With the support of our communities, we have been committed to fighting for the loneliness of Charlie to be over to witness him live a happy life in a new and appropriate home for his species,” said Josef Pfabigan, the chief executive of Four Paws.

The new home of Charlie is 10,000 hectares saved and inhabited with the elephants reputed for successful rehabilitation.