Durban — Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has urgently appealed to all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals to provide non-lethal solutions to manage roaming elephants in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
This was Ezemvelo’s response to an urgent outcry from the KwaMpumpula community regarding a dangerous situation involving elephants that escaped from a privately owned game reserve.
Ezemvelo spokesperson Musa Mntambo said that on Tuesday evening, several KwaMpumpula area families were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge with relatives, while others stayed on high alert, fearing an imminent attack.
He said that the following night, a herd of elephants entered the Esidakaneni area under Inkosi Ndebele, causing further distress to the community.
“Ezemvelo has deployed officials to monitor the situation on the ground and ensure the safety of residents while efforts are made to address the crisis. The elephants are estimated to be around 30 in number,” Mntambo said.
“Following the recent media outcry about the destruction of nine elephants near Mawana Private Game Reserve, Ezemvelo is urgently appealing to all NGOs and individuals to provide non-lethal solutions for safely removing the elephants from the area.”
Anyone able to assist must contact:
- Vuyiswa Radebe
- Email: [email protected]
Meanwhile, last month, The Witness reported that the Human Elephant Foundation was concerned over the recent killing of nine elephants on a farm near Vryheid. The foundation said there was no legal permission for this action, which is required by law.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife refuted the claims that there was no permit.
At the time, Mntambo said Ezemvelo had a standing permit to destroy (kill) damage-causing animals. He said a difficult decision was made to kill the elephants as there was a potential threat to property and human life.
Earlier this year, Ezemvelo issued Mawana Game Reserve a final compliance notice following Mawana’s failure to maintain the game reserve according to the approved Management Plan.
This followed an outcry from the community expressing their fears of the elephants that roam around their areas, with the game reserve seemingly doing nothing to chase their elephants back to the game reserve. The fence is almost non-existent. Additionally, a man herding his cattle was injured by a bull elephant.
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