‘The Elephants of Thula Thula’ — a jumbo-sized love story

‘My Thula Thula journey had been entirely driven by love. First I fell in love with Lawrence [her late husband], then the land, and then the elephants. Somehow, the elephants got into my soul,” reads an excerpt from author and conservationist Françoise Malby-Anthony’s book The Elephants of Thula Thula. 

The excerpt kicked off the webinar, a virtual book launch, hosted by Our Burning Planet journalist Don Pinnock in conversation with Malby-Anthony. The book, described as vivid and lyrical, is the author’s recollection of her remarkable relationship with a growing herd of elephants and a life dedicated to conservation.

https://youtu.be/WgzLUt7Cjf0

Malby-Anthony shared in the webinar that she and her late husband, the conservationist Lawrence Anthony, had received seven elephants in 1999 which they didn’t know what to do with. After keeping the elephants in a boma — following their escape — and her husband spending 24 hours bonding with the matriarch of the herd, a wonderful connection, which remains to this day, was formed.

“Lawrence didn’t call it elephant whispering; he used to say, ‘They talk to me’, or he would listen to them,” the author recalled fondly. “Trust was created … and that created the future of this herd.”

Thula Thula, the game reserve owned by the author, now hosts 27 elephants that Malby-Anthony considers her pride and joy. 

She spoke about her special bond with an elephant named Franky, adding that her relationship with the animal was the hardest to write about as a result of what happened to it.

“Franky was bold and feisty and very special to me,” said Malby-Anthony. She remembered the first time she encountered Franky; she was on a motorbike with Lawrence and the elephant nearly squashed them, with Lawrence stepping in to avert a tragedy.