Pinky Modina, Pachydermist at the Johannesburg Zoo, feeds Ramadiba one of the three remaining elephants in Johannesburg. The trio -- Lammie,47, Ramadiba, 28 and Mopani,26, -- the last elephants in zoo captivity in South Africa -- are at the centre of an ongoing court case, with animal welfare organisations arguing that they should be relocated to a sanctuary rather than remain in zoo captivity.
The last three elephants still in a traditional South African zoo entered their enclosure in single file, fruit and vegetables scattered on the ground to encourage natural foraging.
For visitors to the popular Johannesburg Zoo, it was a chance to see Africa's largest land animal in real life.
But for animal welfare campaigners, it is a scene of cruelty that they have petitioned the courts to end by ordering the trio's release into a rewilding sanctuary.
In a case supported by international elephant experts, the campaigners told a court in May that observation showed that Lammie, aged 47, Ramadiba, 28, and Mopane, 26, were distressed and depressed.
