Eleven elephants made their way from Mozambique through Eswatini towards South Africa’s Kruger National Park; Five have been relocated and the others were spotted making their way back through Eswatini.
Kruger National Park, South Africa (13 May 2022) – Everyone has been discussing the roaming elephants that are currently travelling from Mozambique, through eSwatini and towards South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The elephant bull herd was made up of eleven elephants.
SANParks answered the call to assist the elephants and were able to capture and relocate five of them. The elephants were transported to the Shingwedzi region of the park that borders Mozambique. This area of the park is a popular location for large bulls. Trailblazer, a bull wearing a collar, was amongst the five elephants relocated to Kruger National Park.
Trailblazer has become the face and name representing this journey. He was very recently collared in Mozambique by the Mozambique Wildlife Alliance. Those following the story were saddened to hear that one of the bulls needed to be euthanised due to injuries sustained from bullet wounds. This means there are five more elephants looking to find their way to Mozambique.
Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and the South African National Parks – Kruger National Park issued a joint statement about the relocation of the elephants and the work done to ensure they are protected and cared for.
The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) in partnership with SANParks today, successfully captured and relocated five of the eleven elephants that were roaming the Madadeni area in the Nkomazi region on Saturday, 7 May 2022. The elephants entered South Africa from eSwatini after having moved from Mozambique.
The elephants have been released in the Shingwedzi Section North of the Kruger National Park. This operation was successfully conducted with the assistance of SANParks Veterinary Wildlife Services (Game Capture) operations team and Ranger Services. This saw the provision of their Fixed Wing and Helicopter for Air Wing Support, Game Capture trucks, Loading Ramps, and all the other necessary resources required to ensure a safe and successful Game Capture operation.
The operation was conducted in a safe and secure manner under the authority of the MTPA to ensure that the elephants were captured in a safe manner and were not a threat to human life.
“We are grateful for the assistance received from the SANParks management and the KNP Ranger Services. The collaboration between the two conservation authorities made this operation a success. We are delighted that the elephants are safe and have been captured and relocated safely. Our Wildlife Management team will continue to monitor the situation on the ground and look out for the remaining elephants which it is believed to be with the breeding herds”, said Mduduzi Vilakazi, Acting CEO of the MTPA.
The Managing Executive of the KNP, Gareth Coleman, commended everyone who was involved in the operation.
“This was a difficult and stressful operation, but we are happy at the turn of events and that the animals have been relocated and to a safe area away from communities. We urge communities to alert officials when they observe animals outside the protected areas to stay away from these animals and allow conservation authorities the space to carry out their duties unhindered for the safety of both animals and humans” concluded Coleman.
Since the elephants made their way to Mpumalanga, a number of people have been following their journey, and there has been an appeal to ensure their safe passage back to Mozambique.
The Eswatini Five
News from eSwatini indicates that the remaining five elephants have been making their way back to Mozambique through the parks in the Kingdom. They reported the sightings of the elephants’ tracks on the 11th of May 2022 in the Hlane Royal National Park.
“5 other elephants were confirmed to have arrived at Hlane from the north and have displayed very nervous behaviour. We believe from consulting with our counterparts in Mpumalanga that these may be part of the 11 as they have arrived from the North, and the timing would be consistent with the splitting up of the herd.
One of the 5 broke out of Hlane last night and headed towards the Mozambique border. Fresh tracks of a single elephant have been confirmed close to Mhlumeni today, and we believe that it is this same elephant and that it is now in Mozambique. Fresh tracks at Hlane indicate that the other 4 elephants are still at Hlane as of today, Wednesday.
The 4 elephants are likely to attempt to head southwards or eastwards if they break through the electric fences and all communities within 35 km of Hlane are advised to exercise caution and be vigilant, as these elephants may have been traumatized enough to split up from their herd and turn back to eSwatini.” – Mick Reilly, Big Game Parks eSwatini.
Hopefully, all ten elephants find sanctuary back where they belong.
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