‘Gatuno’ the elephant leaves Eswatini

MBABANE – ‘Gatuno’, one of the elephants that had wandered into the kingdom on November 27, 2021 has officially left the country.

This news was confirmed by Dr Michelle Henley, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Co-Founder and Principal Researcher at ElephantsAlive. She confirmed the leaving of ‘Gatuno’ as per the tracking collars.

‘Swazi’ was left behind and according to Henley, the bull has not shown signs of wanting to follow his counterpart.

If anything, according to Henley, he was said to be bonding with his new Hlane Royal National Park friends.

According to Henley, ‘Gatuno’ used the route he had previously used when wandering off, only to return into the park. This means the elephant used the Mlawula route to the north of the Mhlumeni Border Post.

The two elephants collared by Mozambique Wildlife Alliance for Elephants Alive, and were referred to as trailblazers, wandered into the country two months ago.

The duo decided to spend Christmas and new year in Eswatini, which ‘Swazi’ had visited before, shortly after he was collared in February 2020.

“Initially they had travelled widely across Eswatini, forging paths at times through human dominated landscapes. Previously (L) A map showing the route used by ‘Gatuno’. (R) A picture of ‘Swazi’ taken at Hlane Royal National Park over the weekend. Seen around his neck is the tracker used by Elephants Alive. ‘Swazi’ had miraculously linked the Kruger to Tembe National Park (both in South Africa) across the wild and beautiful landscape of Mozambique and while in Eswatini, both ‘Swazi’ and ‘Gatuno’ visited Big Bend Conservancy, Mkhaya

Game Reserve and Hlane Royal National

Park,” said Dr Henley. She further added that ‘Gatuno’, who had been collared for a shorter period, had put much less visible mileage on the clock but was keen to up his score. “He has itchy feet, as since both bulls broke into the elephant enclosure in Hlane Royal National Park to visit their compatriots, ‘Gatuno’ has broken out several times. From December 7 until now, Swazi has remained in the elephant enclosure further south after they both entered with ease as the electric fence was meant to keep elephants in and not from other elephants entering from the outside,” she had explained.

In addition, she said elephants were very gregarious and social animals. “Bulls often have older mentors in life who teach them all they need to know about where to find food, water and safety. They form strong bonds after spending much time together and when growing up, they often spar and tussle with each other to sort out their hierarchical order.

Respect

Thereafter, they will always respect the highest ranking individual and greet them with respect, allowing them to gain access to water and other resources first,”she said.

The elephants were first seen at Mambane on November 27, they later moved to Big Bend Gamula, along Lubhuku area where they were spotted moving around; from there they moved to Sikhuphe.

From Sikhuphe, they made their way to Lubhuku and made a small turn at Mpaka, which was when they moved to Hlane and roamed around Hlane until they wandered themselves into a secure area.