Adieu Frankie

 

FRANKIE (1974 - 2021)

 La Fondation Françoise et Lawrence Anthony rend aujourd'hui hommage à Frankie, la matriarche du troupeau de Thula Thula.

"Avec Frankie, la tante bagarreuse, j’ai appris que la loyauté envers son groupe est capitale. 

À ses yeux, rien n’est plus important que son troupeau ; elle est capable de donner sa vie sans hésiter pour lui. Elle a reçu beaucoup d’amour et de respect pour son courage mais ça n’a jamais été sa motivation première." 

Extrait de L'homme qui murmurait à l'oreille des éléphants de Lawrence Anthony et Graham Spence

(Éditions Guy Trédaniel)

 

"Hier, comme tous les autres jours depuis le 9 janvier, le jour où nous avons vu Frankie pour la dernière fois, nous sommes revenus de la brousse complètement abattus, tristes et impuissants, mais réconfortés de voir Mabula et Mandla devant la maison principale. 

Le reste du troupeau était dans la vallée en contrebas et nous les regardions avec désespoir… Ils étaient tous dispersés, errant sans but. 

Françoise a compris que leur comportement n'était pas normal et, du fait qu'ils n'avaient pas leur matriarche pour les regrouper, ils la cherchaient. Leur tristesse était presque palpable!

Vers 18 h, Lynda, notre directrice générale, est arrivée les larmes aux yeux, apportant de mauvaises nouvelles à Françoise; celles que nous ne voulions pas entendre : la brigade antibraconnage avait retrouvé notre Frankie. 

 

Sans hésiter, Françoise a demandé à Andrew, un des rangers, de nous emmener jusqu'à Frankie pour lui faire un dernier adieu avant que la nuit tombe. En passant devant Nana, Françoise a voulu rester un moment avec elle… 

En route, nous avons rencontré l'unité antibraconnage qui nous a accompagné jusqu'au bout. Ils l’avaient trouvée au sud-est de la réserve, dans une zone appelée Dubi Ridge, à côté d’un étang qui portera désormais le nom de « Étang de Frankie ». 

Une zone à laquelle nous n'avions même pas pensé. 

 

 

Andrew, connaissant bien le troupeau, a expliqué qu'elle avait dû aller dans la forêt de Tamboti, derrière Croc Pools et qu'elle avait dû attendre que le troupeau s'en aille. Pendant la nuit, elle s'était dirigée vers son dernier lieu de repos.

Les deux matriarches de Thula Thula : Frankie et Frankie

Toute l'équipe continuait d'y croire, surtout Françoise qui refusait de perdre espoir, et le dénouement a été déchirant.

En ce moment, un vent de tristesse souffle sur Thula Thula et nous pleurons pour elle, mais dans nos cœurs, elle vivra pour toujours.

 

Merci à tous pour votre empathie, votre soutien et votre participation au dernier voyage de Frankie avec nous."  

 

Kim Mcleod Photography

Traduction Noëlle Septier-Saugout

"Frankie a rejoint Lawrence : ils resteront à jamais unis dans nos cœurs". 

Noëlle Septier- Saugout 

LOSS OF OUR MATRIARCH

 In elephant society, the Matriarch reigns. The Matriarch dictates when and where the family feeds, sleeps and travel. The entire herd follows her lead, with total respect and discipline. A Matriarch's duty is to lead the herd together in unity for the best interest of all, for the greater good, resolving conflicts, protecting the herd from any kind of danger, with the altruism and strong family structure which define an elephant matriarchal society. A perfect model for society, any society... Frankie took the role of Matriarch many years ago with that determination and strength that characterized her, after Nana showed signs of weakness due to her bad eyesight. They still worked together, the wisdom and knowledge of Nana being invaluable for younger Frankie.

We picked up the first signs of Frankie illness in November 2020 as she was showing a change of character, not the same feisty and bold Frankie we knew. 

On the 25th of December, the whole herd visited us at the main house. Nana was leading the herd. Frankie was nowhere to be seen but at the time did not know the relevance of this. This is when the search for Frankie started. On the morning of the 26th, Siyabonga Sia Mbatha, 

our head ranger, called in that he had seen Frankie standing on a road in the far south on her own, away from the herd, with an unusual bulge under her belly, standing, in total apathy.

From there guide Andrew Murgatroyd and Kim Mcleod went out to monitor her. She did not move much and we could clearly see the edema under her belly. She nibbled on food but did not eat much. We also noticed the wounds behind her ear.

She then stated moving towards the dam but always checking back that we were following her.

We waited for her at the dam, watching her slowly make her way down the hill. Once there she sipped a little water. Being the middle of summer, with very high temperatures she made her way into the bush to a close by tree for shade, had a sand bath and spent the rest of the day there. 

Our vet was called to dart her and take blood samples for analysis. Results were not good: liver damage. We had hope that we could save Frankie. Our veterinarian Trever Viljoen, darted Frankie from the helicopter. We somehow thought that she removed herself from the herd so that we could look after her. This type of operation would have been challenging if she had been with the herd. Blood samples were sent to a lab for analysis and the vet injected her with several boosters, vitamins and antibiotics. We kept hoping she was going to recover... Every day Francoise prepared her her special meals made of horse pellets, fruits and vegetable, all mixed with her medication, and the game rangers, Siya and Andrew delivered them to her. Her medication, (Hepafocus and CBD oil) seemed to be working as she showed much more energy. She had good appetite and seemed to be waiting each day for her special treats and a bit of company. Prognosis was still 50/50 so we continued taking care of her everyday, monitoring her progress. 

The heartbreaking discovery of Frankie. She had disappeared for a week and made it impossible for us to find her. We received the dreaded call at 6 PM on that Saturday, the 16th of January from our patrolling anti poaching team who had just found her. She had taken her decision to be alone and rest in her forever place, a hidden, little dam difficult to access. All this time, we never lost hope of saving her... Frankie used to often lead the herd to the main house and their visits were always a memorable moment. We could admire the bold and feisty temperament of our matriarch, although she had quietened down over the years from her previous defensive attitude. Knowing their traumatic past, this was understandable. The herd had found peace, trust and happiness at Thula Thula. We found out that the herd came to visit Frankie's resting place on the 25th of January. At the moment, the herd was showing signs of mourning, and without the guidance of their matriarch, and from a strong close-knit group, the family unity seemed to be lost. When the Matriarch dies, she passes her wisdom down to the next generation, the oldest daughter takes her place. Although her daughter Marula is showing signs of leadership, we shall find out in a couple of months who will be following the steps of Frankie. Every Society needs a leader.