‘Matambu is a prime breeding elephant bull that was first identified and entered into the Elephants Alive study database in June 2005. He was first collared in November 2005 and his movements have been followed since then via satellite tracking. When his collar was replaced in 2013, the wildlife vet at the time (Dr Cobus Raath) noticed that he would run into trees and hence suspected an eye-sight problem. Upon investigation, Dr Raath’s diagnosis was superficial keratitis that can be fixed via an operation. Matambu is quite an adventurous character and his name means “long legs” in the local Tsonga language.
“Some people will think I’m pretty weird, but this elephant is the closest thing I have to a best friend. Nothing wrong with trusting an animal as much as you would trust a friend.” — Josh Hibbitt with Matambu
The Blue Sky Society Trust is an independent NPO working to create a community of like-minded, passionate individuals and connecting them, through education and action, to worthwhile projects that help to preserve and improve life for people, animals, and communities in need. Their passion is projects that involve the conservation of animals, like the mighty Matambu, and their core focus is offering proactive alternatives to helping elephants.
Founder of the Blue Sky Society Trust, Carla Geyser, is an adventurer, eco-warrior and humanitarian. She started the organisation in 2012 as she has an abiding love of nature and the environment. “Last year I lead a tremendously exciting expedition into Africa to raise awareness for the plight of elephants. The Elephant Ignite expedition was unique as the team was comprised of only women, and we travelled almost 16 000 km through ten countries in 100 days, visiting vital conservation projects along the way. We made an incredible impact, our journey was filmed for various projects and we managed to donate much needed money and equipment to some of the projects we visited.”
The Blue Sky Society Trust encourages everyone with a passion to make a difference! Get involved by supporting their Inaugural BSST Golf Day in association with IBV Gold on 13 June at Kloof Country Club. The beneficiary of the event is “Elephants Alive”, a research project that commenced in 2003 that contributes towards the long-term survival of the African elephant led by Dr Michelle Henley who has been involved with elephant research for 20 years.
Sponsorship for the golf day in the form of teams of 4 players, prizes, goodie bag items, sponsored tees and financial donations are all welcome. Please contact admin@blueskysociety.co.za or alice@thealist.co.za for more info. All donations in cash or kind will be issued with a section 18A tax certificate (excluding 4-ball entries).
Visit www.blueskysociety.org for more info on the organisation.