About us
When you visit the Knysna Elephant Park, you are not only experiencing elephants at close range, you are also supporting a number of elephants at our orphanage near Port Elizabeth. We do not permit visitors at this Park as it is a true rehabilitation centre. This is our primary purpose for being - to provide a home to elephants in need. Some of these elephants live at Knysna Elephant Park, however our world extends beyond Knysna Elephant Park and what the public experiences. In 2008 we placed six elephants at reserves and in January 2009 we received two ex-zoo elephants who now enjoy freedom at our other spacious rehabilitation centre until we find new homes for them at a private game reserve willing to take them on.
Your experience at our Park helps these elephants live a better life, and opens your eyes and hearts to their world. We practice a free-range controlled system of management that allows our matriarchal herd to range freely and only interact with guests on their terms. Many people comment on the fact that visiting the Park is like being in Addo, but without the restriction of sitting in a car. Being so close to the elephants is invaluable in developing an understanding of elephant behaviour, and any subsequent trip to greater game parks or reserves can only be enhanced by this newfound understanding. You will leave Knysna Elephant Park having been touched by an elephant …
“To know an elephant is to be touched by him - these gentle giants humble mankind. He is nature's greatest Masterpiece”. (John Donne)
Our Story
The Knysna Elephant Park was born of the struggle of the Elephants in the Knysna Forest, who for many years roamed freely in large numbers in their natural forest habitat. Today, a sad testimony to our society’s conservational failure, only one has been reported to survive in the dwindled forest area. Some 30 years ago, the famous writer Romain Gary was quoted in Time Life magazine to have said: “in a truly materialistic society, poets, writers, artists and elephants are a mere nuisance.”
Knysna and surrounds is an area rich in natural beauty and history, with the world’s southernmost elephants forming an integral part of this fascinating history. Though small in the face of the African Elephants' plight across the continent, the sad story of the Knysna elephants and their demise is perhaps true to Romain Gary’s prediction.
The fascination with elephants and their untamed environment began for Ian Withers in his childhood when he spent many holidays exploring the forests surrounding his grandparent’s home in Brakenhill outside Knysna. In the evenings, gathered around the kitchen fire, Ian’s grandfather would tell of his encounters with “Big Feet” - the elephant - and how his great grandfather had built road passes along the tracks made by these elephants through the Groot River and Bloukrans gorges and forests. Elephants and conservation were deeply rooted in Ian’s foundations and tourism, he saw, provided a window of opportunity to obtain his wildest dreams, driven by the fact that in 118 years the elephant population in Knysna had crashed from between 400 and 500 to 1 elephant cow in 1994: to bring elephants back to Knysna.
During October 1994 the first two elephants, Harry and Sally, having escaped a Kruger culling program, arrived at the Knysna Elephant Park. Ian and his wife Lisette felt they had the space to create a Park which could be home to them as well as other elephants who may need a permanent home. Lisette became a surrogate mother to the two and Harry and Sally continue to thrive at the Park today.
The hefty family have entertained and educated visitors over the years, successfully living in a controlled-free-range-environment, and thriving on all the love and attention they get. Visitors to the park are privileged to have a close-up and personal encounter with these gentle giants, and leave having gained a healthy respect for these wonderful animals, and a better understanding of the African elephant and his plight across the continent.
Our Founders
Lisette and Ian Withers founded Knynsa Elephant Park in 1994. Lisette has an uncontrollable instinct to save and assist any animal in distress; those who know her will attest to the constant presence of some animal, either in an incubator or at her house, being rehabilitated. These range from birds to dogs and cats that have been ill-treated. Ian has a lifelong history and connection with wildlife and the elephants of the Knysna Forest. This connection extends to his grandfather who grew up in the area and was fascinated with the wild elephants. In later years Ian played a role - through WESSA (Wildlife Association of South Africa) - in the attempt to relocate elephants from Kruger Park to the Knysna Forests. It seems fitting then that the foundation of Knysna Elephant Park was built on the struggle of the elephants in the Knysna Forest.
Our Mission:
To provide for the welfare of elephants in need through the application of excellent management and welfare principles, and to educate the public on sound conservation ethics using this keystone species as an ambassador of wildlife. By doing this, Knysna Elephant Park provides jobs to local people as well as a conservation cornerstone to the region.
Why visit the Park?
As with all tourist offerings, there are countless choices; it is always wise to explore the untold facts behind the pretty pictures.
- Knysna Elephant Park was the first elephant orphanage of its kind in South Africa - established in 1994.
- Knysna Elephant Park has contributed significantly to the responsible management of elephants in South Africa. The formation of the Elephant Tourism Association derives directly from the Knysna Elephant Park. The Elephant Tourism Association wrote the Norms and Standards which now govern all elephant experiences across the country.
- Lisette Withers, co-owner of the Knysna Elephant Park along with husband Ian, is regarded as one of the leaders in the management and rescue of elephants in South Africa, so much so that she and her team from the Knysna Elephant Park were invited to stabilise the Tuli elephants, as well as stabilize and treat the burned Pilansberg elephants. Lisette is often consulted on how to successfully rear young orphans.
- Knysna Elephant Park applies strict responsible tourism and elephant management guidelines:
- Knysna Elephant Park has defined a ‘free-range, controlled environment’. This allows the breeding herd (female group) to interact with tourists on their terms and not on tourists’ terms
- The female group is never split up and is respected as a tight-knit matriarchal clan
- No rides or organized walks done involve the female breeding herd
- Males are managed differently and in accordance with the bachelor herd behavioural patterns in which they operate
- Knysna Elephant Park has adopted the area’s local underprivileged school as part of its Corporate Social Investment Programme. Volunteers from all over the world come to Knysna Elephant Park to participate in skills transfer programmes that include teaching at the local school.
- In addition to the main attraction of the elephants, the Park boasts spectacular views of the Outeniqua mountains and is also home to a patch of pristine indigenous Knysna forest. The other famous biome you’ll see at the Park is Cape fynbos.
- Knysna Elephant Park is conveniently situated close to both Plettenberg Bay (10km) and Knysna (22km), right in the heart of the celebrated Garden Route.
- We are a family destination that welcomes children, not only to the elephant experiences but to our luxury accommodation too!
