Three small elephant populations have survived in South Africa despite near extermination in the recent past. In Tongaland a group of fewer than 30 bulls survives by keeping contact with the population in a nearby reserve; in the Knysna, where there were 13 in 1920, there are now 12; and in the Addo Bush 11 survivors in 1931 had increased to only 18 in 1953, but to 102 in 1979. The author tells the story of each group, discusses the reasons for the different status of each, and describes what is being done to conserve them.