Dangerous Animal Incidents

[Richprins]

Forwarded to Skukuza, Penny!

[nan]

will finish with an accident... if not already did

[Flutterby]

Hope they do something about it!!

[Richprins]

Don't think there will be a reply...the one person's "out of office reply" says he/she is off 'till 30 Sept.....

The forwarding address doesn't exist...

[Toko]

Ranger kills elephant in musth
SCHALK MOUTON | 13 Dezember, 2013

Kruger National Park will investigate the shooting of a bull elephant that charged a traffic officer in the park on Monday.

The shooting sparked outrage on social networks because it was thought that the elephant had been killed by poachers.

SANParks spokesman Ike Phaahla said the elephant was shot when it had charged a member of the park's protection services division 3km from the Phalaborwa gate.

"The protection services guys don't have firearms as they mostly man the speed traps in the park," said Phaahla.

The ranger who was with the traffic officer killed the elephant only after firing several shots in an attempt to frighten it away, said Phaahla.

"In the bush we are in their territory but unfortunately in situations like this the life of a human is more valuable than the life of an animal," said Phaahla.

A photograph of the dead elephant was circulated over social networks, prompting claims of " murder" and calls to "shoot the bastards".

SANParks released a statement on Facebook explaining what had happened.

"They had no choice, otherwise they were going to die," said park spokesman William Mabasa.

Phaahla said the elephant was probably in musth, a period when testosterone levels and sex drive hit a high and the animals can become extremely aggressive.

Phaahla said at the last count, in 2010, there were about 8500 elephant in the Kruger National Park.

[Tent dweller]

RIP Mr Ellie

[mouseinthehouse]

Does Mr Phaala have a clue?

'Ferreira (SP ecologist) said the 2012 elephant census counted 16 700 elephants in the park

[harrys]

Does Mr Phaala have a clue?

'Ferreira (SP ecologist) said the 2012 elephant census counted 16 700 elephants in the park

Most probably not Mith

[Richprins]

Nobody has a clue as to the exact numbers...

[Flutterby]

Croc drags man by foot out of tent

2014-01-30 10:45

Pretoria – An angler from Botswana made a lucky escape over the weekend, when he survived a crocodile’s attempt to turn him into a midnight snack.

Volksblad reports that Bazil Roth was camping at the Rust de Winter dam in Limpopo when a 2,4 metre crocodile grabbed hold of his foot and tried to drag him out of his tent.

Roth and his friend, Barend Lamprecht were spending the weekend fishing at the dam and had set up camp conveniently close to the water.

A short while after going to sleep, Roth woke up to the yells of Lamprecht who had felt something falling on top of the tent.

They decided to investigate and spotted the large croc lurking in the water a few metres away from the tent. This is also when they discovered large tears in the tent canvas.

Although Lamprecht thought they could have been caused by the croc’s teeth, Roth laughed it off and went back to bed.

Only to be woken a short while later again by an uncomfortable tug on his left foot.

Amid hysterical yelling and vigorous kicking, he managed to extract his foot from the reptile’s jaws at the expense of his sleeping bag, while Lamprecht pelted it with anything he could lay his hands on: tent pens, chairs and other camping equipment.

Roth and his foot were fortunately left largely unscathed and the croc left them in peace for the rest of the night.

The two men did, however, see it as a lesson: Never camp too close to the water and always expect the unexpected.