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Four elephants had to be rescued from an overturned truck en route to the Samara Karoo Reserve in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday afternoon. Pictures: Supplied/ Video screengrab
It was a sincere case of “hoorah, hoorah” for four Eastern Cape elephants when they came out two-by-two at the Samara Karoo Reserve – just hours after surviving a near catastrophic road accident.
The elephants were being relocated from the Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) to the Samara reserve when the truck they were transported in, overturned – ironically while traversing the region’s notoriously dangerous Olifantskop Pass on the N10.
The accident – which has been attributed to dramatic weight shifts by the elephants – took place at about 1pm on Wednesday afternoon after the vehicle left the Paterson region of the sprawling SANParks facility to the privately-owned Samara near Graaff-Reinet.
Following their traumatic ordeal, which included being trapped inside the truck in 31°C heat for a couple of hours as authorities rushed to their rescue, the four gentle giants were safely released onto the Samara reserve.
Wildlife translocation, release and Samara teams, as well as two veterinarians, were all on-site to monitor the elephants and ensure their safety throughout the incident.
The elephants were miraculously not injured in the accident, and on their release in the evening, walked off the truck into the reserve with no visible signs of distress.
“The elephants will continue to be closely monitored in the coming days and weeks to ensure their health and wellbeing as they settle into their new home,” Samara Karoo Reserve co-founder, Sarah Tompkins, told The Citizen on Thursday.
“We are incredibly thankful that the elephants are safe, and that after many months of planning, there are now four more elephants roaming the Samara landscape. Samara would like to thank all those involved in the translocation and who assisted after the unfortunate accident.
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“The safety the truck drivers and the elephants was the team’s number-one priority throughout the incident,” Thompkins said.
“We were humbled by the way in which nearby reserves rose to our assistance, lending additional equipment to ensure the elephants’ wellbeing, donating water and food to the team and assisting with organising logistics.
“The camaraderie of the conservation community is unmatched. We would also like to thank the public for their heartening messages of support and those affected by the road closure for their patience,” she concluded.
According to the private reserve, the four elephants were captured in Addo Elephant National Park and translocated to their site, with the aim of establishing a new population of elephants in the area.
“This translocation is about expanding the habitat available for elephants to thrive. Samara is assisting SANParks by providing homes for elephants as the current population in Addo Elephant National Park is expanding beyond the park’s habitat resources.
“All the appropriate permissions were granted for this translocation”.
This translocation forms part of broader elephant conservation measures within South Africa to expand the habitat available for elephants to thrive.
In October 2017, after elephants were absent from the Karoo for 150 years, six female elephants were released into Samara. In November 2018, they were joined by two bull elephants from the Phinda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal.
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