HARRY’S TUSK FORCE ONE
Deep in the African bush, MoS tracks Prince’s daring mission to thwart elephant poachers
SWOOPING perilously low over the African savannah, Prince Harry brings the skill and courage he honed as a war-zone pilot to the battle to save elephants. The daring Prince has been playing a key role in relocating the endangered species to a wildlife sanctuary in northern Malawi.
Our exclusive photographs show Harry, wearing khaki shorts, a dark green T-shirt and baseball cap, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat as the aircraft hovers above the vast Liwonde National Park.
He is acting as a spotter for his crew, who herd the beasts into safe shooting range for vets – carrying tranquilliser guns – aboard a second helicopter. On some missions Harry, who flew Apache attack helicopters in Afghanistan, takes the controls for landings in the rough savannah.
Each mission sees expertly trained conservationists use their tranquilliser darts to stun the mighty animals, which can weigh up to six tons. The animals are then winched by crane into crates and taken on a 450-mile road trip to the underpopulated Nkhotakota reserve further north.
Harry joined up with the conservation experts of the 500 Elephants Project three weeks ago and is expected to stay until the end of the month. The initiative is not his first major conservation expedition to Africa. Last year he spent time with soldiers fighting off rhinopoachers in Kruger National Park in South Africa, and also joined a team tracking lions in the remote Palmwag Reserve in Namibia’s north-west Kunene region.
The 31-year-old Prince has been keeping his work strictly low-key, living rough with his team in small tents on a riverbank.
They get up at dawn to join a daily routine of brewing tea over the camp fire, sharing bucket showers and polishing off a cooked breakfast made in the field kitchen.
Elephants and hippos roam freely throughout Liwonde, and at one point last Sunday a Nile crocodile could be seen in the water just 20ft from Harry.
The Prince has managed to maintain his anonymity despite setting up camp within 100 yards of tourists staying at Mvuu Lodge in the heart of Liwonde. Even his occa- sional forays to the bar at the lodge have attracted little attention.
A senior member of staff there said: ‘He behaves just like one of the guys. He doesn’t put on any airs and graces. Far from it – when I met him he had a beer in one hand
and a cigarette in the other. He’s clearly enjoying it here and his skills are hugely appreciated.’
Although it’s as low-key as possible, no risks are being taken with the young Royal’s safety. His makeshift camp has a state-of-the-art communications system, along with 24-hour armed personnel and Harry’s Royal protection officer in a tent next to his. A small motorboat is on standby in case he needs to make a speedy exit.
Despite the laidback nature of his base camp under the acacia trees, Harry and his team carry out a strict routine, flying up to four missions a day in the Bell 407 helicopters.
He is in Liwonde at the invitation of African Parks, a non-govern- mental organisation that recently took over the management of the reserve. The abundance of elephants in Liwonde – there are estimated to be 900 alongside 2,000 hippos – has caused conflict with nearby village communities. In an ambitious move, the biggest of its kind in Africa, the organisation launched the 500 Elephants Project to move herds up to Nkhotakota, which has lost many animals to poachers. By last weekend, 263 elephants had been successfully transported by road.
On Monday, Harry headed to Nkhotakota to help in the construction of electrified safety fences that form a sanctuary for the newly arrived elephants. The work is vital – recently a bull elephant broke out and headed for a rural village, where it killed three people before being shot by a ranger.
At Nkhotakota a wide-eyed young Malawi woman issuing tickets at the gate summed up the feeling of the locals: ‘Prince Harry, a royal prince, has brought us all these elephants, and he’s here to make them feel at home. He belongs here and we’d like him to stay.’