Thula Thula Private Game Reserve is a private

game reserve A game reserve (also known as a game park) is a large area of land where wild animals are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; however, the focus of a game reserve ...

situated in Zululand,

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

province in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is part of the Royal Zulu Biosphere. Thula Thula means ‘peace and tranquility’ in Zulu.

History

Thula Thula was once the private hunting grounds of the mighty Zulu Warrior, King

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

. The first historic meeting between Shaka and his father,

Senzangakhona Senzangakhona kaJama (c. 1762 – 1816) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom, and primarily notable as the father of three Zulu kings who ruled during the period when the Zulus achieved prominence, led by his oldest son King Shaka. Biography Hi ...

, which set the stage for the creation of the Zulu Nation, took place at the Nseleni River at Thula Thula. The land became a

in 1911 and is believed to be the oldest private game reserve in

. The reserve has two lodges.

Owners

Thula Thula was owned and operated by international conservationist and founder of the Earth Organization

Lawrence Anthony Lawrence Anthony (17 September 1950 – 2 March 2012) was a South African conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and author. He was the long-standing head of conservation at the Thula Thula animal reserve in Zululand, South Africa, an ...

, and by his wife Francoise Malby-Anthony. The reserve is the setting for Lawrence's books '' The Elephant Whisperer'' (2009) and ''The Last Rhinos'' (2012). Following Anthony's death in 2012 the Earth Organization was separated from Thula Thula; Francoise Malby-Anthony founded the South African Conservation Fund and continues to run the reserve. In 2018 Francoise Malby-Anthony published a sequel to Lawrence's books titled '' An Elephant in my Kitchen'' (2018)

Wildlife

Thula Thula is home to a wide variety of animals, including

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), also known as the African savanna elephant, is a species of elephant native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of three extant elephant species and, along with the African forest elephant, one ...

Cape buffalo The African buffalo (''Syncerus caffer)'' is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. The adult African buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head, referred to ...

southern white rhinoceros The southern white rhinoceros or southern white rhino (''Ceratotherium simum simum'') is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the much rarer northern white rhinoceros). It is the most common and widespread subspecies ...

African leopard The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been Habitat fragmentation, fragm ...

South African giraffe The South African giraffe or Cape giraffe (''Giraffa giraffa'' or ''Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa'') is a species or subspecies of giraffe found in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Mozambique. It has rounded or blotched sp ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned artiodactyl antelope native to Southern Africa. The species is part of the family Bovidae and the genus '' Tragelaphus'' (formerly placed in the genus ''Nyala''). It ...

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...

kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , ,), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed ...

as well as other indigenous species. Over 350 species of birdlife has been identified, including a breeding population of

white-backed vulture The white-backed vulture (''Gyps africanus'') is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the most common vulture species in the continent of Africa. Description The white-ba ...

Conservation

Since Lawrence's death in 2012, his wife Francoise has started various conservation projects including a

Wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

Rehabilitation Center and a

Conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manage ...

Volunteer Camp. For her effort in conservation Francoise was awarded the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Abroad

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

at the

Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs may refer to: * Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (Albania) * Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France) The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (, MEAE) is the ministry of the Government ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in March 2019.

Elephants

In 1999

was asked to accept a herd of 'rogue' wild elephants from

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

onto Thula Thula which were destined to be shot unless alternative arrangements could be made. The herd was housed in a boma on Thula Thula but managed to break free and escape. The elephants were successfully tracked, recovered and transported back to Thula Thula. The story of their rehabilitation and Lawrence's subsequent relationship with the herd is told in his book ''The Elephant Whisperer''. The elephant herd, including Nana, Frankie and Mabula are still at Thula Thula as of 2018. The herd had grown to 29 elephants as of 2018. The matriarch Frankie died of a liver failure in January 2021, leaving 28 elephants remaining at Thula Thula.

References

External links

Thula Thula WebsiteThula Thula German WebsiteThula Thula Photography Web PageBook published by Francoise Malby-Anthony about Thula ThulaConservation Fund launched by Francoise Malby-AnthonyLawrence Anthony & FriendsGlobal Animal - Interview with Lawrence Anthony
* ttp://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11638&pageid=27&pagename=Travel Roaming the Hunting Grounds of a Zulu King - The Cutting Edge News {{Authority control Game reserves of South Africa