Move of elephant calves ‘ inhumane ’
Cows get shot, young sent to THE PRICE ON THEIR HEADS sanctuary
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EARLY on Wednesday March 13, policemen and Green Scorpions operatives in Kimberley pulled over a truck that was carrying four young elephants.
The animals had been darted that morning on a hunting ranch in North West, loaded into crates under the care of wildlife veterinarian Dr Douw Grobler and sent on their way to Elephants of Eden, a private “elephant rehabilitation sanctuary” near Alexandria in the Eastern Cape.
Back on the farm, their mothers were being hunted down and shot. Two surviving cows broke through a game fence and fled across the Botswana border.
“It was confirmed when the truck was stopped that the babies had been removed from the herd,” said Isabel Wentzel, spokeswoman for the National Council of SPCAs. “They were made orphans.”
The truck was pulled over after a tip-off to the NSPCA.
Grobler was accompanying the elephants to the elephant rehabilitation centre, owned by the Knysna Elephant Park.
According to the NSPCA, Grobler said the calves had been taken from the elephant cows.
The four elephants are the only the survivors of a small herd that once roamed Sandhurst Safaris, a farm and hunting ranch near Tosca in North West. Elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo and leopard — the “big five” — are among the trophy animals listed on Sandhurst’s website.
Sandhurst owner Leigh Fletcher said the ranch had scaled back its hunting operation by almost 90% because the land was being reallocated for sable-breeding and cattle. The farm has also been subdivided into four plots, which are too small to support an elephant herd.
Fletcher said she had spent the past two years trying to get permission to have the elephants moved. “Knysna Elephant Park was willing to take everything, but the Department of [Environmental Affairs] insisted the only way the elephants were leaving was to be shot.” HUNTERS say trophy hunting plays an important role in conservation because the demand for trophy animals will ensure a steady supply of them and generate revenue for the wildlife business. That, however, has not stopped Botswana and Zambia from taking steps towards banning trophy hunting.
In South Africa, hunting is still big business, although prices have dipped in recent years on the back of the global financial crisis and the oversupply of some species such as lions. Prices vary widely between outfitters, but ballpark figures are:
Lion — R35 000 for a young male;
Elephant — R120 000 to R180 000 for a bull. Cows are R80 000 to R120 000;
White rhino — R500 000 to R650 000, but can top R1-million;
Buffalo — bull, but can run into the millions for a bull with a tip-to-tip horn measurement of 117cm; and
Leopard — R80 000 for a large big male and usually about R45 000 for a smaller animal. Leopard hunts are limited by the availability of Cites permits.
R80 000 for a
After sending a scientific research team to the ranch, the department changed tack and said the calves could be removed — but the cows would have to be culled.
Fletcher confirmed that three elephant cows were shot on the day the calves left the farm. The other two fled after authorities suspended the hunt.
She said there had been problems with the translocation permit issued by the North West department of nature conservation. A few days later, villagers near the border told Fletcher there were two sets of elephant tracks heading into Botswana. Two cows have since been spotted by a local farmer, but Fletcher said the department had yet to follow up on the sighting.
The missing elephants may not be the department’s only problem. The NSPCA wants to know why conservation authorities in NorthWest issued a permit to move the elephants. “To take calves from a culling operation is against the law, ” Wentzel said.
According to the norms of elephant management, the whole family unit should have either been translocated or culled. Shooting the cows and saving the calves is “totally against the spirit of translocation ”, said retired SANParks elephant expert Dr Ian Whyte. “It’s extraordinarily inhumane.”
The Sandhurst elephant saga is part of a wider problem: South Africa is running out of space for its elephant herds. “The available habitat has declined,” said Whyte.
Elephant translocation is also becoming more difficult. “[ Almost] everybody who wanted elephants has them now,” he said. “And a lot of those who have them are trying to reduce their populations.”
Elephant populations are controlled through culling or contraception. Owners may only resort to culling if they can show that translocation or contraception are not viable alternatives.
For now, the Sandhurst juveniles are being kept indoors at Elephants of Eden while the NSPCA puts pressure on the Department of Environmental Affairs to resolve the matter quickly. The NSPCA wants the elephants returned to the wild and not kept in captivity for entertainment purposes. “They are at a facility that supports elephantback safaris,” said Wentzel.
Releasing them back into the wild might be difficult now that the family unit has been destroyed. Females need the benefit of learning from a matriarch and young males need the company of older males, said Whyte. “They need to know their place in the hierarchy.”
If the elephants remain captive, they will have to go into training.
Elephants of Eden owner Lisette Withers conceded that the translocation had caused an uproar.
“But I haven’t done a bad thing,” she said. “I’ve given them a home.”