Research from SANparks has highlighted the very evasive nature of the sole, remaining Knysna elephant, along with its tendency to avoid any human interaction.  This also calls for very careful consideration regarding any future interventions.  A Garden Route Elephant Management Plan has also been set up, with liaison taking place between SANparks and the leading minds in conservation of the species, and this also includes all stakeholders, including the local community.  Once the risks and opportunities have been established, along with a better understanding of the complexities around elephant management in an unfenced socio-ecological system such as the Garden Route, then a clear plan will be put in place.  A major concern at the moment is the number of people who are trying, against the wishes of SANparks and the ecologists, to make contact with, and view or film the lone female. She is monitored regularly by camera traps, set up by Lizette Moolman, a Wildlife Ecologist who has studied the elephant for years, and the levels of stress shown in hormones in her dung spike considerably when humans attempt to get into her space. She seeks solitude from man, and the call has been to grant the sole remaining Knysna girl her privacy and space. The possibility of same species company for her, along with long term plans, is currently being looked at by the leaders in the field.  Jeff Ayliffe spent a day in the forest with some of the team.