Africa Wild

Yes Mr Mabasa, hindsight is 20/20 vision! Had these tourists not followed the Elephant that closely, none of this would have happened and the "grumpy old ellie" would still be alive.

So , this poor ellie did NOT give problems previously ?
I find it rather strange that two ellies were killed during the month of December 2013
What happened to the meat - was it distributed amongst the poor and needy ( in this season of goodwill ) , or did the Sanparks staff benefit in that respect

how is the Elephant's meat ?

okie wrote:So , this poor ellie did NOT give problems previously ?
I find it rather strange that two ellies were killed during the month of December 2013
What happened to the meat - was it distributed amongst the poor and needy ( in this season of goodwill ) , or did the Sanparks staff benefit in that respect

Good point about the earlier version that the ellie was "a repeat offender", okie!

Don'y know about this ellie, but staff used the meat from a similarly shot ellie at Shingwedzi...for small financial gain, it emerged.

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=77&p=981&hilit=biltong#p981

(The topic was brought over from the old forum...without much of the discussion)

Personally I have always felt that ellie meat should be distributed to the neighbouring population...the real test of the so-called "sustainable conservation policy" SP has been mouthing off about over the last year or two, but that has more to do with culling...

nana...the meat is edible and fine, and makes brilliant biltong indeed!

Richprins wrote:

okie wrote:
What happened to the meat - was it distributed amongst the poor and needy ( in this season of goodwill ) , or did the Sanparks staff benefit in that respect

Don'y know about this ellie, but staff used the meat from a similarly shot ellie at Shingwedzi...for small financial gain, it emerged.

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=77&p=981&hilit=biltong#p981

(The topic was brought over from the old forum...without much of the discussion)

Personally I have always felt that ellie meat should be distributed to the neighbouring population...the real test of the so-called "sustainable conservation policy" SP has been mouthing off about over the last year or two, but that has more to do with culling...

That's exactly my point RP
The meat should not be given to/distributed , amongst those who are the decision-makers to shoot or not to shoot , but rather the poorer communities , especially since it is from amongst those same communities where you may find poachers of bush-meat . By distributing the meat amongst them may encourage those communities not to support/harbour poachers , and which therefore , in the long run is more sustainable

I spent weeks contacting experts and NGO's, up to UN West Africa level saying the same thing in 2012, okie...

It is feasible, but not popular!

viewtopic.php?f=237&t=351

2014-01-06 08:42

Johannesburg - Tourist Sarah Brooks who was attacked by an elephant in the Kruger National Park was recovering in hospital.

Brooks, a tourist from Britain, has been at Medi-Clinic hospital in Nelspruit since last week after the elephant, which was in musth, attacked her and fellow visitor, Jans de Klerk, at the N'waswitshaka waterhole, a Sapa correspondent reported.

They had been filming the elephant from their car when it tore down on them. It overturned the car and pushed it deep into the bush along the road. Brooks was injured when one of the elephant's tasks ripped through the back of her upper thigh, while De Klerk was unharmed, but in shock.

The two have refused all attempts to interview them. Sapa learnt from their Facebook profiles that De Klerk is a graduate of the Pro Arte school in Alphen Park, Pretoria, and now lives and works in Spalding in Lincolnshire in Britain.

Brooks, a Briton who also lives in Spalding, studied biomedical science at Northumbria University and is a teacher at Gleed Girls Technology College. Medi-Clinic spokeswoman Berdine Malan, said Brooks was in a stable condition, but was unable to say when she would be discharged from hospital.

In a controversial move, the KNP management shot and killed the elephant to prevent it from hurting other people. It's aggression was blamed on a combination of being in musth and also having an injury. The decision sparked an outcry on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The KNP spokesman William Mabasa said people should not be quick to criticise the decision. He said people should have more faith in the decisions made by officials with years of experience in the field. “Our rangers reported that the same elephant bull had been involved in previous fights with other dominant bulls since it has been in musth phase."

"The elephant showed very aggressive behaviour and had to be put down," Mabasa said. This was the third media report about elephants attacking tourists in the KNP during 2013. On Monday, December 9, an elephant was shot dead when it charged traffic officers on duty at least 3km from the Phalaborwa gate.

On Monday, April 15, a Polish and a Chinese visitor were injured when their vehicle was overturned by an elephant near Punda Maria. Mabasa advised tourists to maintain a safe distance between themselves and wild animals.

The KNP spokesman William Mabasa said people should not be quick to criticise the decision. He said people should have more faith in the decisions made by officials with years of experience in the field. “Our rangers reported that the same elephant bull had been involved in previous fights with other dominant bulls since it has been in musth phase."


People would have more faith if press releases etc. were more accurate and less speculative, especially by spokespeople with "years of experience"...

Not everyone criticised the decision on the abovementioned social groups, and those that did have a right to air their opinion. Injured animals are by far the biggest culprits when it comes to attacking humans, and I have no problem if they are put down if they are not an endangered species, or simply too old to hunt their normal prey, for example.

But to concoct such a mixed up tale involving musth and repeated fighting with bulls is curious, to put it mildly! Have rangers been watching this bull for months? If it was so crazy why didn't they shoot it then? What should be done with the other musth bulls?

Not good enough!

Bull elephants have a natural tendency to get into fights whilst in musth . In fact , most , if not all , animals show aggression to other males during mating/rutting season.
I have seen an impala ram , chasing another one , and causing it to crash into a vehicle , and two years ago , right outside the gate at Satara , two buffaloes were pushing and shoving each other , also smashed into a vehicle , damaging the left backdoor and fender . The fender was totally jammed against the wheel and the guy had to bend it out before he could drive away

So , Mr Mabasa , what's the diff

First SP spins a story , then modifies it , become embarrassed , and then criticise when they are being questioned
Come on