Elephants in Kowie valley after 150-year absence
ELEPHANTS are roaming freely in the Kowie River Valley after an absence of at least 150 years.
In a mammoth operation involving game-capturing crews, enormous trucks, and a bucket load of planning and patience, 12 elephants have found a new home in the stunning Buffalo Kloof reserve outside Grahamstown.
Ten elephant cows were relocated from Shamwari Game Reserve and two bulls from Kwandwe.
Both capture and relocation operations, overseen by renowned game translocation expert Kester Vickery from Conservation Solutions, ran like clockwork.
Buffalo Kloof’s Warne Rippon was thrilled with the latest large additions to the reserve.
Local Advocate Shaughan Cole and Rippon came up with the idea of combining their two reserves.
Once the fences between the reserves were taken down and the external fences beefed up to elephant-resistant standards, it left the mammoth creatures with about 12 000ha of roaming room.
They share the reserve with buffalo, dozens of species of antelope, Cape mountain zebra, about 150 giraffe, blue wildebeest, leopard and many other species. Cheetahs will soon join the mix.
Rippon has a long-term vision which he hopes will see the incorporation of adjacent Eastern Cape parks areas and farms to make one massive seamless conservation area of about 19 000ha.
“I hate fences. It stops the animals naturally traversing the land as they used to.”
Cole said it was the most exciting thing to happen in their quiet valley for decades.
“I believe the last elephants were hunted out in this valley about 150 years ago and haven’t been seen here since at least 1870.”
He said although elephants were seen as destructive to the bush, they were in fact essential to open up the overly dense thicket while simultaneously fertilising the area.
Rippon agreed. He said the area presented the perfect elephant habitat and many plants, including kiepersol and spekboom, needed to pass through the digestive system of an elephant to germinate.
He said they would also undertake a programme to reintroduce dung beetles in the area.
Kwandwe chief executive Angus Sholto-Douglas said they were thrilled to have found such an ideal place to rehome two of their surplus bulls.
“It is special to be involved in something as positive as expanding conservation areas.”