Knysna elephant has got it in for logging vehicles
THERE is an elephant living in the Knysna forest that appears to have something against forestry vehicles.
On Monday, staff working in the pine plantations adjacent to the indigenous forest came to work to find the elephant had punctured a tyre of their vehicle – again.
Riaan Stander, who works in his father’s forestry company, Z D Stander, said yesterday the elephant locals called Oupoot, or Old Foot, had been “rather active” in recent weeks.
“There was the tyre on Monday-morning, and Wednesday last week it pushed a vehicle over, and on Tuesday it punctured one tyre. Then the week before, it threw one of the vehicles over,” Stander said.
The company has been felling the pines in the commercial plantation, adjacent to the Goudveld region of the indigenous Knysna forest, managed by SANParks. The two company vehicles working there have been left at the plantation overnight.
“The elephant lives in the forest, not in the pines, but it walks through the pines to get from one part of the forest to the other. There are only two vehicles there, and I don’t know if he does that because they are in his path, or if he doesn’t like the smell of diesel, or what,” Stander said.
Stander, who is descended from the old Knysna forest cutters, said: “They had put it in quite thick forest, but the elephant got it and pushed it over and punctured the tyres. There was so much elephant dung all around … it looked as if he had worked really hard to push the Bell over.”
Stander said the two punctured tyres cost R48 000.