Elephant attack on vehicle

[PRWIN]

Here is the Brit's side to the incident

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... addComment

[pooky]

This is now getting so ridiculous - PRwin is shown a pic of a bakkie, the video on Facebook is of a Golf
the pic in the British newspaper is of the car that was damaged by an elephant north of Shingwedzi
earlier last year (I think.)

What next

[okie]

This type of confusion would have been avoided if Sanparks had properly investigated the incident before going out and shooting that poor elephant

[Bushcraft]

This type of confusion would have been avoided if Sanparks had properly investigated the incident before going out and shooting that poor elephant

[Toko]

SANParks: No regret in killing elephant in Kruger attack

2014-01-14 09:33

Cape Town - Kruger National Park spokesperson William Mabasa says visitor safety remains paramount and the park has no regrets in killing an elephant that attacked two tourists, despite dramatic footage that has surfaced - showing they took unnecessary risk.

"The video seems to suggest that there was an opportunity for the tourists to have escaped the attack, but of course when you are directly involved in a situation like that, reason is no longer a factor but instinct and I think this was the case here," Mabasa said.

"We have no regrets, the animal would have been put down irrespective as it was unusually aggressive.

"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 News24 Travel Reader, who submitted the footage and asked to remain anonymous, explained that they had been following the elephant, driving behind the blue VW used by the two tourists identified as Sarah Brooks and Jans de Klerk.

It soon became clear to the reader that the elephant was getting agitated and they decided to fall back and keep at a safe distance.

Warning signs given by elephants when it is feeling threatened include flapping of the ears or a mock charge, where the ears are fully spread with its head down.

In the video the elephant can be seen and heard doing both but at no point does the blue VW attempt to back away slowly. Instead it can be seen driving on and getting even closer to the elephant.

From the footage it appears they may have been trying to pass the elephant instead.

The reader admitted he wanted to warn Brooks and de Klerk that they were getting too close but said he could not risk putting anybody in danger or even hooting in case it further aggravated the elephant.

[Richprins]

"We have no regrets, the animal would have been put down irrespective as it was unusually aggressive."

That is callous, and an outright lie and knee-jerk cover-up, in my opinion! They are bluntly sticking to their BS story...never heard of an ellie being "earmarked" for later execution because of aggression...they do it immediately!

Dr de Vos has responded and he agrees the tourists were in the wrong and the bull gave plenty of warning.

This was on etv National News today, and the driver of the video car refused to comment on the putting down of the elephant, and wished to stay anonymous...tells you something...

[nan]

lot of confusion........

[okie]

SANParks: No regret in killing elephant in Kruger attack

2014-01-14 09:33

"We have no regrets, the animal would have been put down irrespective as it was unusually aggressive.

Is it SP policy to put down unusually aggressive elephants , and in that case , why was this elephant not put down before the incident took place
And , generally speaking , how many elephants are put down due to such behaviour , say on an annual basis ?

[Mel]

This part of a flyer you get when you enter the park.
Is it in reaction to this incident or has it been give out before?

[nan]

it seems I had never saw this... but last time in Kruger was in 2011