Image: Facebook / Oubaas Fourie
Photographs confirm Oupoot, the elusive matriarch of the Knysna forest, is still alive and roaming
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A rare sighting of Oupoot — the last-known elephant of the Knysna forest — was spotted for the first time in six years.
Images captured by Karatara farmer Oubaas Fourie on Thursday, 17 July, shows the lone elephant moving calmly along the forest edge and across farmland.
In the images captured, she briefly pauses and turns toward the camera, as if issuing a silent warning to keep distance, before continuing her path into the thicket.
While Oupoot has appeared on SANParks’ camera traps over the years, this is her first confirmed human sighting since 2019.
As reported by News24, SANParks has verified the elephant in the video is indeed Oupoot — named after the beloved character in Dalene Matthee’s novel Kringe in ‘n Bos, which was set in these very forests.
Phokela “PK” Lebea, SANParks’ Regional Communications Manager, said that although she lives in isolation, the iconic cow is not believed to be lonely. “Different stress hormone levels found in the female elephant’s dung indicated that her hormone system is functioning well,” Lebea told News24. “In areas with low human presence, her stress hormone levels were low.”
Lebea confirmed that SANParks is currently conducting a comprehensive risk assessment to guide any future decisions regarding Oupoot’s protection — including whether introducing other elephants into the area is viable. “Any decision taken will be informed by sound scientific, conservation, and stakeholder considerations,” he said in a statement.
At her estimated age of around 50, Oupoot represents the final link to a once-thriving population of forest elephants in Knysna, which numbered in the thousands during the 1800s. That population collapsed over the past century due to habitat destruction, hunting, and human expansion.
Oupoot is part of the Loxodonta africana subspecies — the same as elephants found in other parts of South Africa — but her behaviour is shaped by the dense, misty forest she inhabits.
She has adapted to remain highly elusive, avoiding human activity wherever possible.
According to SANParks, she is particularly sensitive to being followed, with higher stress markers recorded in her dung after such encounters.
In light of this, officials have urged the public not to disclose the elephant’s location or attempt to track her.
“We understand the excitement that comes with seeing this iconic animal,” said Lebea, “but we kindly advise members of the public who may encounter or sight the elephant not to disclose its exact location publicly and to avoid attempting to track or approach it.”
For now, Oupoot continues to walk her ancestral paths, a living relic of the Knysna forest’s wild past — and a symbol of what still remains, if fiercely protected.
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