Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has defended a Hluhluwe Game Park management decision to destroy a large male elephant on Friday because the “bull had become destructive and posed a threat to human life”.
Ezemvelo spokesman Musa Mntambo yesterday confirmed that Hluhluwe park staff had shot the tusker on Friday, after a tourist guide reported seeing a park truck ferrying the carcass away towards the park’s conservation services area near Hilltop camp. A section of the park near the Memorial Gate entrance was cordoned off Friday, and the carcass removed so tourists would not see the body.
The field guide, who did not want to be named, reported the incident to the media on Saturday, saying Ezemvelo could have taken other measures to either contracept the animal, or even dart it and move it to an area in the park not often frequented by humans.
“I often stopped my vehicle to allow my passenger tourists to take pictures of the bull. Even though he appeared heavily in musth, he was quite chilled, and had magnificent tusks.
“The musth could have accounted for his behavior but in my view, because musth normally lasts only for about 3 to 4 weeks, I think management could have pursued other options, rather than shooting the bull. It’s a great loss to the park.
“You could see he had broken branches off trees and destroyed a section of fencing around the car-park. I think the electrified fencing was not working, because I had seen him touch the fence with his trunk” the guide said.
But Mntambo said the fence was electrified and this had not prevented the elephant from breaking into the staff quarters at night on a number of occasions , and even chasing staff members, while causing physical damage to property.
“We had chased the animal away more than ten times, but he kept returning. The night before he was killed, he even went through the gate and was pushed back into the park by our anti-poaching unit. We even used rubber bullets to chase it away.
“It was an unfortunate decision we had to make, but we knew it was going to be only a matter of time before he hurt a member of the community, or attacked a tourist” Mntambo said.
“There have been more than ten incidents where he had charged at human beings and destroyed trees around the staff quarters.
“We have a management plan in place for incidents like this, and in this case, the procedure was followed by the book. The head of conservation would have consulted with the park manager, and the organisation’s head of park management and conservation would also been informed” Mntambo said.
Some say, the electric fences at the staff village don't work and the park has not done anything about it for a long time
Ezemvelo and Hluhluwe mangement should comment on this
