Founded by four passionate individuals with a vision of developing an elephant rewilding reserve for the reintegration of South Africa’s captive elephants and any elephant in need, providing a secure wild environment where they can thrive
Elephants require a safe and secure environment where their individual needs will be taken into account when they are to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into a wild system. Reacquiring foraging skills, gaining back health and establishing social bonds will be a unique consideration and process for each and every individual.
The rewilding of all the captive elephants in South Africa is a realizable mission that ERT is dedicated to advocating for.
Brett Mitchell, a former elephant-back safari operator, had a deep conviction that the elephants he was training and handling ultimately belonged in the wild. Guided by this belief, he began to challenge the status quo, urging the company’s board of directors to do what was right for the elephants he had been managing. The years of persistent pressure paid off and, in 2014, the company’s board made the pivotal decision to rewild the elephants, allowing them to live out the rest of their lives as free-living individuals.
In 2015, in partnership with !Khamab Kalahari Reserve, the reintegration process began for these elephants. It was during this time that Brett’s vision for a dedicated rewilding reserve began to take root.
Later that same year, while rewilding the first group of elephants, a second reserve approached Brett with the intention of ending their commercial elephant operation and rewilding their own elephants. This second reintegration started in March 2016. With its completion, Brett’s commitment to creating lasting change only deepened.
Conversations with long-time colleague and friend, Dr. Marion Garai, sparked the idea of founding a non-profit dedicated to the rewilding of captive elephants. Together, they identified others who shared their passion and vision, asking Dr. Yolanda Pretorius and Hanno Kilian, who joined them to form the founding board. After many discussions and planning sessions, the Elephant Reintegration Trust, soon to be known as ERT, was officially registered as a Trust in July 2017.
From the outset, the Trustees knew that creating such a reserve would be a long and challenging journey. Additionally, they identified a critical gap in research on two fronts, there was virtually no published literature on rewilded elephants, and very limited articles on welfare parameters for wild elephants living in fenced systems, such as is predominant in South Africa.
This prompted the development of a critical research project, aptly named the Greater Welfare Project, which launched in April 2019 with Tammy Eggeling joining the ERT team to carry out this important research.
Now in its seventh year, this initiative has focused on both rewilded and wild elephants, aiming to contribute to improving elephant well-being understanding and standards in South Africa and beyond.
About 90 captive elephants are currently in South Africa, with no sustainable plan for their ethical retirement, and their well-being remains a pressing concern. The captive elephants in South Africa require health care and psychological support to address their complex needs. Most are forced into roles as a species for human entertainment, and those that are no longer economically viable or are difficult to manage risk euthanasia. Increasingly, captive elephant tourism facilities are reverting to selling unwanted elephants into semi-wild facilities. This causes further trauma to the elephants by severing herd bonds and elevates the risk for both humans and elephants.
The urgent need for ethical alternatives in elephant management and tourism emphasises the necessity for prompt intervention and the exploration of rewilding as a humane and sustainable management approach.
As an organisation, we aim to achieve the following
To establish an Elephant Fund dedicated to funding the rewilding of captive held elephants and assist any elephant whose well-being is compromised.
To develop an elephant refuge reserve in South Africa that will provide a secure wild environment to manage full reintegration projects back into the wild where these previously captive elephants can live out their remaining years, with dignity, as wild elephants.
Reuniting related individuals who have been separated across captive facilities over the years. The re-establishing of family bonds will assist with the reintegration process due to the emotional support it provides.
To facilitate education and awareness initiatives around elephant biology and well-being for conservation authorities, researchers, local communities, and tourists alike.
Playing a role in expanding existing rangelands for elephant movement, with the potential to create elephant corridors to suitable adjacent conservation areas.
Since our establishment in 2017, ERT has achieved many milestones that we are proud to share. More milestones are yet to come and we are both excited and privledged to experience them.
The incredible people that make ERT possible
Brett managed and operated businesses in the safari industry, specifically elephant back safaris for over 20 years. This background makes Brett a wealth of knowledge when it comes to understanding and advising on captive elephant welfare. He has since developed a successful model for reintegrating captive elephants into the wild which has been applied to over 17 captive elephants thus far.
Marion is most interested in the social behaviour of elephants, their psychology and welfare. She is interested in finding ways for humans to coexist with elephants, and to accept that they are feeling, emotional, intelligent, cognitive beings like us. Her deep concern is the welfare of elephants under human care, and her aim is to find solutions to end the exploitation of elephants.
Tammy’s experience lies in the behaviour and social dynamics of elephants – key aspects when understanding what it takes to successfully rehabilitate and reintegrate elephants back into wild, more natural systems. Her passion and key interest lie in elephant welfare improvement and understanding the necessary social and ecological factors required to achieve this on a broader scale.
As a Conservation Ecologist, directly involved in management across various landscapes for over 20 years, Hanno brings with him a wide range of experience. His key interests lie in the management and ecology of savanna systems, covering the full spectrum of biotic and abiotic factors that can be, or are, influenced by management actions, especially on systems limited by the presence of fences.
Tenisha has been working for ERT for the last four years as a field researcher and research coordinator. Before joining the team, she was a teacher at a preschool where she learned the importance of proper education from a young age. She has her Masters in animal science with an MSc and her analytical mind makes her a valuable asset to our research team
Photo credits: (6) Lulu in Africa
Brett managed and operated businesses in the safari industry, specifically elephant back safaris for over 20 years. This background makes Brett is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to understanding and advising on captive elephant welfare. He has since developed a successful model for reintegrating captive elephants into the wild which has been applied to over 17 captive elephants thus far. Brett established the Elephant Reintegration Trust in 2016.
“Ever since I started working with captive elephants I believed they belong back in the wild. My dream is to reintegrate as many captive elephants back to the wild and have the privilege of witnessing these amazing animals live free once again. This is why ERT was formed to ultimately achieve this monumental task!”
To quote Graydon Carter – “We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self awareness, and social intelligence. But the way we treat them puts on display the very worst of human behavior.”
Marion is most interested in the social behaviour of elephants, their psychology and welfare. She is interested in finding ways for humans to coexist with elephants, and to accept that they are feeling, emotional, intelligent, cognitive beings like us. Her deep concern is the welfare of elephants under human care, and her aim is to find solutions to end the exploitation, abuse, and cruelty towards elephants.
Marion conducted her PhD in Zoology on the Social and Stress Related Behaviours of Translocated Juvenile Elephants. She has been a valuable member of and served on multiple boards for almost 20 years. This includes EMOA (Elephant Management & Owners Association), IUCN/SCC African Elephant Specialist Group, the European Elephant Group in Germany Elephant Specialist Advisory Group NPC, South Africa. She is an integral part of ERT, having been a Trustee since its inception in 2016.
“For many years it has been my dream to create a safe haven for ex-captive and abused elephants and to give them the freedom, space and natural habitat where they can roam freely and chose to do what they like and just be elephants. With likeminded fantastic colleagues we are in the process of fulfilling this dream.”
“There is nothing that gives me more pleasure and joy, and fills me with calm, than watching a family of happy elephants going about their daily business, seeing their capacity for joy, the serenity of mothers looking after calves, the majesty of bulls walking through the savanna, where they belong. It would be a very poor and sad world without elephants, which I do not wish to see.”
Before joining ERT, Tammy began the pursuit of her dream of working in wildlife conservation in the Greater Kruger area, first as a conservation officer in Sabi Sands Game Reserve and then as Elephant Researcher and Mortality officer with Elephants Alive in the Associated Private Nature Reserves. Since 2019 Tammy has been with ERT as Elephant Researcher and Operations Assistant. Her experience lies in the behaviour and social dynamics of elephants which contribute as importance aspects when understanding what it takes to successfully rehabilitate and reintegrate elephants back into wild, more natural systems. Her passion and key interest lie in elephant welfare improvement and understanding the necessary social and ecological factors required to achieve this on a broader scale. Tammy has her MSc in Wildlife Management with a thesis focused on elephant social dynamics.
“Nothing is greater than enjoying the gentle magnificence of an elephant in the wild. I believe if people knew better, we could do better. Elephants deserve our every effort to live a life of freedom, not contained for human amusement in captivity.”
As a Conservation Ecologist, directly involved in management across various landscapes for over 20 years, Hanno brings with him a wide range of experience in the conservation and ecology field. His key interests lie in the management and ecology of savanna systems, covering the full spectrum of biotic and abiotic factors that can be, or are, influenced by management actions, especially on systems limited by the presence of fences. As well as being Chairman of EMOA (Elephant Managers & Owners Association) from 2006 – 2009, Hanno has serves on the board of trustees of the Lion Management forum and the African Institute for Conservation Ecology & Genetics (AICEG). Hanno has been a Trustee of ERT since the beginning in 2016.
“Elephants are special animals as anybody that has had close interaction and experience with will attest to. Having been part of a successful elephant reintegration I have realised the potential to assist other elephants that are currently in captivity, to also live out their lives as free elephants. Coupled with that, I value being involved with research and increasing our knowledge of the way management actions and human interference impact elephant populations.”
Tenisha has been working for ERT for the last five years as a field researcher and research coordinator. Before joining the team, she was a teacher at a preschool where she learned the importance of proper education from a young age. Teaching has provided her with insight into the lack of transparency that exists when children are taught about wildlife, especially those in captivity.
Her expertise spans elephant movement ecology, behavioural analysis, and the complex relationship between tourists and their perceptions of elephant wellbeing, whether in captivity or within South Africa’s fenced reserves. Tenisha holds an MSc in Animal Science from Stellenbosch University and brings a rare blend of precision and creativity to the field. Her strengths lie in developing and refining field data collection protocols, managing large-scale databases, and conducting in-depth behavioural assessments of wild and captive elephants. She also leverages GIS software to visualise and interpret elephant movement patterns, transforming raw spatial data into meaningful conservation insights. She also collaborates on scientific research articles, making complex findings accessible to a broader audience. Her sharp analytical mind, combined with a deep empathy for animals, makes her an invaluable member of our research team.
“Animal welfare has always been a massive part of my life. I have always paid a lot of attention to animal behaviour and feel it goes hand in hand with welfare. I am interested in the management of wildlife in combination with the good welfare of the animals. Creating awareness of serious wildlife topics and educating the youth are other key interests of mine.”
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