Nine African elephants in KwaZulu-Natal facing death following a successful land claim were moved to a wildlife sanctuary in Limpopo over the weekend, animal rights activists said on Tuesday.
The previous land owners were planning to kill the elephants as the new owners intended using the land solely for farming, said Animal Rights Africa’s Michele Pickover.
”When we got wind of this we got our lawyers to prevent the killing of these elephants. We then bought the elephants for R50 in order to move them to a more secure environment,” said Pickover.
Moving them to the sanctuary took months as the elephants resisted and hid in inaccessible hills in an area formerly known as the Thukela Biosphere Reserve in central KwaZulu-Natal.
”We only managed to dart two of them and fitted them with a radio collars, which made it possible to monitor their movement s… Last Friday they moved into a favourable area and within eighteen hours we were able to gather our rescue team and dart the them from a helicopter,” said Pickover.
On arrival at the Sanwild Wildlife Sanctuary and Reserve near Gravelotte in Limpopo, they were released into a holding boma from which they escaped. They then settled in an area not far from the boma and have since showed no signs of trying to escape.
”This has been a nerve-racking and very emotional experience for all who put in effort to rescue these elephants. You must remember that all these elephants carry the emotional scars of having their families killed around them during previous culling operations in the Kruger National Park.
”To watch the first bull elephant step from the truck on to the safe soil brought tears to many who were there to witness the miracle we all feel this has been,” she said.
Pickover said they had been helped by donations from organisations such as the Bill Jordan, Born Free and the Bardot foundations. Help also came from local groups such as African Blessings and Beauty Without Cruelty. — Sapa