The last ‘Knysna elephant’ may not be a proper Knysna elephant. Compare pictures and judge for yourself.
Nearly all Knysna elephants were butchered by hunters before 1920. By that time there were possibly 7 left. Towards the end of the 20th century, in 1996, the population was reported to be functionally extinct, with only a single adult female remaining.
Major Philip Jacobus Pretorius (1876-1945) was single-handedly and largely responsible for the demise of the species. He was a descendant of Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius. This “big game”-hunter shot and killed 557 elephants in his lifetime.
In his defence, the Knysna elephant was a roaming elephant and therefore troublesome to farmers. Pretorius was not a hated man in his lifetime. On the contrary, most considered him famous; and not notorious, like our generation might be inclined to. This is indicated by the fact that no one less than general Jan Smuts wrote the introduction to Pretorius’s autobiography Jungle Man (published posthumously in 1948).
The lonely female that is still claimed by some to roam the ancient forests near the town of Knysna in South-Africa, was last seen in 2019. While she could have a few years to live, in terms of elephant life expectations, she has remarkably big ears for a proper Knysna elephant.
Genuine sighting
This can be discovered by comparing its photo with a historic picture of the species in the Knysna museums. It seems that this last elephant, while it may carry some Knysna genes, does not fully resemble the ancient species of forest elephant. While the normal African elephant is characterised by big ears, the Knysna species have much smaller and rounder ears. Below a picture of one of the last genuine and properly documented sightings in 1939.
Unholy Baptism
Values can differ markedly from one generation to the next. Whilst visiting the Knysna museum, I also stumbled on a photo of a gentleman whose baptism made him famous in local folklore. The episode is perhaps a reflection of the low esteem the sacraments of the Church were held in, in this rough part of the world at the time. If anything, it is a remarkably story about a not so holy Baptism.
