Starving elephants are rescued from sheikh’s land

Dozens of malnourished elephants, giraffes and wildebeest are being rescued from an Arab sheikh’s private game reserve in South Africa in an operation funded by Damian Aspinall, the British casino-owning millionaire conservationist.

Eleven elephants were removed from Blaauwbosch in the Eastern Cape yesterday after a court rejected an attempt by Sheikh Khalaf Ahmed Khalaf al-Otaiba to block the rescue. About 20 undernourished giraffes and 25 wildebeest will be removed next week and taken to other reserves in the area.

Conservation groups say that the sheikh, who is believed to be from the United Arab Emirates, ignored years of warnings about deteriorating conditions inside the reserve, where a recent aerial survey found very little food or water for the animals.

A bull elephant searching for food broke out via a dilapidated fence last month and Aspinall stepped in after being informed of the problems by local members of his wildlife foundation.

Aspinall owns Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent, which was founded by his father, John, who created the Aspinall’s casino empire. He drove around the edge of the Blaauwbosch reserve and saw that it was ‘‘pretty much barren earth’’.

Wildlife experts who flew over in a helicopter said they saw many malnourished animals, including elephants standing around the body of a recently deceased female from their herd.

They also saw several carcasses of giraffes and rhinos, and overgrazed land. Broken pipelines led to empty water tanks, and they believed some of the animals had survived on moisture from prickly pears.

Dereck Milburn, southern Africa director of the Aspinall Foundation, took part in the elephant rescue yesterday, working with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The 11 animals were placed in lorries and taken 250km to Buffalo Kloof game reserve. He said the elephants appeared very happy to be in their new home, surrounded by lush vegetation, but some of the giraffes were so emaciated that it was likely they would have to be put down, he added.

Milburn said that Blaauwbosch had been a five-star eco-tourism resort but had fallen into disrepair since the sheikh bought it a few years ago.

The roof on what was a luxury lodge had collapsed and a single member of staff was managing the property.

He said the sheikh had ignored warnings in 2017 by the Eastern Cape’s environment department about mismanagement of the reserve.

The sheikh’s lawyer, Kuban Chetty, applied to Grahamstown high court on Tuesday to block the planned rescue, arguing that enough food and water had been provided for the animals. ‘‘We have been working since AugustSeptember to fix problems on the reserve,’’ he said.

‘‘We want a chance to put the situation right.’’

The court rejected the application, allowing the rescue to proceed.