Learn about the last of the big tuskers

GUEST speaker, Ernest Robbertse, CEO and co-owner of Tembe Elephant Park Lodge, will give a talk and presentation on Are these the last of the big tuskers? at the Friends of Kloof Library Forum at Kloof Senior Primary School hall, Abelia Road, Kloof on Tuesday, 26 July at 6pm.

Tembe Elephant Park lies in Maputaland – the north-eastern corner of South Africa. It’s a 300 square kilometer Big Five National Park between Zululand and Mozambique which is currently home to the biggest tuskers in Southern Africa. These old, magnificent giants roam their ancient pathways through an ecologically rare sand-forest, grasslands and wetlands together with an infinitely rich diversity of bird and animal life. It is also the ancestral home of the proud Tembe Tribal Authority.

Ernest Robberste became involved at Tembe in 1998, when he, in partnership with the Tembe Tribe, established the Tembe Elephant Park Lodge within the National Park. Ernest has been deeply involved in the development of the Lodge, which is managed by the Tembe people, and with Tembe wildlife conservation, particularly the critical conservation of the few remaining big tuskers worldwide, and their genes. He has worked closely with wildlife vet, Dr Johan Marais, in this regard for many years. Ernest also continues to play a significant role in tourism, job creation and education in the greater Tembe area.

Ernest is a modest man with a great sense of humour. He is such an avid coffee drinker that he has created a coffee emporium of world class standards at Tembe Lodge.

Tickets cost R50 for visitors and R35 for members of Friends of Kloof Library. To book, contact Kloof Library on 031 764 7543.