11 elephants leave Eswatini for SA
MBABANE – The 11 elephants that entered Eswatini via the Usutu Gorge from Mozambique have left the country along the Komati River at Mananga into South Africa.
This was the latest update from Big Game Parks. The elephants spent the first day resting in the sugar cane close to the Big Bend Sugar Mill. They then moved over night to Mpaka where they rested in an area of thick bush. They then moved overnight and rested in the bush of Impala Ranch, just east of Mnjoli Dam. On Friday they were found resting close to the feedlot at Ysis, also in a patch of thick bush. Last night they continued their journey north and crossed into South Africa’s Mpumalanga Province, presumably on their way back to Kruger National Park,where they are likely to have originated from.
Big Game Park (BGP) rangers and Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) officers have kept a close eye on these animals throughout their visit. BGP would like to thank the public for exercising restraint and for respecting the advice given to the public by BGP and the police. This has resulted in the elephants travelling a long distance, with many encounters with people, but without reported injuries to the public. The quickest way to elicit aggression and cause accidents and deaths from the elephants is to chase them, set dogs on them, frighten them, attempt to confront them or shoot at them.
BGP said they were very grateful that this did not happen and the animals were allowed free passage as they were in any event passing through from one place to another. The were a few reports on some damage to crops and fences, but no human injuries or worse. BGP rangers said injuries were avoided because people behaved appropriately and responsibly when they came into contact with the elephants.