New home wanted for up to 50 wandering African elephants

Over the past few months, their future has become desperate, with at least six (and possibly as many as 25) of the animals shot and killed by residents due to human-wildlife conflict and deliberate poaching attacks inside a proclaimed nature reserve.

Another elephant has been butchered for its meat and tusks along the shores of Lake Jozini/ Phongolapoort Dam in KwaZulu-Natal, as a wandering herd of homeless elephants continues to seek refuge from human persecution.

Two non-government wildlife organisations have offered to catch and translocate the animals to a new home at no cost, but so far, no local landowners have put up their hands to provide permanent sanctuary for the elephants.

Between six and 25 elephants killed

Little more than skin and bone remains on the carcass of another elephant poached in the Ezemvelo Phongola Nature Reserve. Both tusks were removed. The poached carcass of an adult elephant floats close to the shoreline of Jozini Dam.

Somewhere between six and 25 elephants have been killed along Lake Jozini shoreline over recent months. The herd, originally comprising about 90, left the privately owned Pongola Game Reserve on the western shores of the lake nearly seven years ago when the water level dropped.

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The animals have since found temporary refuge in a private reserve in Eswatini and in a provincial nature reserve on the eastern shores of the lake.

But, over the past few months, their future has become desperate with local residents hunting them inside a proclaimed nature reserve.

The exact number of casualties is not clear due to poor access in the area on the border between South Africa and Eswatini, but the latest carcass was spotted at the weekend during a helicopter reconnaissance flight.

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The remaining herd has now split into two groups, with one of about 10 elephants hiding in dense bush to avoid further casualties and a second of about 40 safe for now in the Royal Jozini Private Game Reserve in southeast Eswatini. The former owners no longer wish the herd to return.

Tensions rise

The Eswatini reserve says it cannot provide permanent refuge and the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife conservation agency also wants them out.

Tensions have risen so much that, last month, foreign tourists came under fire while trying to catch a glimpse of the elephants from the deck of a double-decker tour boat. The assailants were believed to be hunting the herd when the incident took place.

Heike Zitzer, a wildlife researcher, has launched an appeal for landowners in SA or neighbouring nations to provide a new, permanent home for the herd.

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According to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the former owners of the elephants (Pongola Game Reserve/Karel Landman Trust) were “reluctant” to take them back.

The reserve brought in a founder population in 1997, but after the herd grew, the owners were refused permission to cull commercially.

–This article first appeared on Daily Maverick and is republished here under a Creative Commons licence