Elephant attack on vehicle

[Mel]

This is just unbelievable!!! Honestly, like the comment underneath the video - how will inexperienced tourist learn to keep their distance
if a ranger working for SanParks doesn't adhere some of the basic rules him-/herself???

[Duke]

Elephants are intelligent. Could there be a correlation between poachers running around in Kruger killing rhinos and increased aggresive behaviour of elephants

[nan]

yes could be, like agressivity of guides... well truck's guides agressivity = cars
and people laughing like dumb...

[Sprocky]

2014-01-15

If News24 readers had their way, two tourists who found themselves staring down an elephant bull in musth, while on a self-drive safari in the Kruger National Park recently - would be banned for life and nominated for a Darwin Award.

The elephant, deemed unusually aggressive by authorities, was shot and kill after it charged their car, injuring one of the occupants. The report sparked initial outrage.

But video footage detailing the incident, taken by a News24 Travel reader who was in the car behind them, shows these tourists took unnecessary risk and behaved irresponsibly.

Kruger Park spokesperson William Mabasa said SANParks does not regret the decision as visitor safety was its first concern.

"People should not be quick to criticise the decision. 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."

After watching the dramatic elephant charge video, which shows the tourists could have avoided the situation, readers have responded once again with remorse and anger that the animal, acting in accordance with its nature and instinct, had to be put down.

News24 Travel comments:

Tsholo Matjane - Watching the video, it's clear that the decision to put it down was taken prematurely. Those idiots acted irresponsibly. The are guidelines that we receive when we enter Kruger National Park, that advises about the behaviour around elephants. It's a green pamphlet where they attach the car permit. They broke every guideline contained in that permit. They should be banned from entering any facility that provides an opportunity to come into contact with wild animals. They were irresponsible on that day. I don't understand Afrikaans that much, but the people who shot the video acted more responsibly.

Arthur Tarr - More Like Surviving Stupidity

Mona Scheepers - I don't think a animal should be killed for a human's stupidity, they had chance to reverse and get away. Animals must not be killed for a human that can't think for themselves. Leave the WILD animals in the WILD alone..................duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bridget Steyn - This is very very sad why did they shoot Ollie that was his territory those 2 idiots must get a big fine Ollie warned them they had a change to get away but no they thought they were very clever poor Ollie is gone because of them being so stupid

Michael Mopai - It breaks my heart to hear that the elephant was shot dead,watching the video,these guys had enough time to reverse before it can charge.Poor elephant lost its life because of stupidity.

Marni van Emmenis - Another prime example of people who think they know what to do, but clearly don't - and that statement is applicable to SanParks and the idiot behind the wheel of the blue Polo. Surely you investigate an insident properly before taking drastic action. And the statement "...the same elephant bull had been involved in previous fights with other dominant bulls..." is ridiculous! Clearly Mr. Mabasa is working for a company he knows nothing about. All animals fight within groups to test dominance and settle where who fits in, humans as well. Please don't try to convince the public you knew exactly what you were doing and why.

Bob Broom - Absolutely correct; but there's another element here that SANPARKS etc is evading for the moment. The KNP has far too many elephants and this has been the case for years and the "powers that be" have sat on their hands and tried to get someone else to make the only decision necessary; cull large numbers, so as to reduce the population size and protect all the species in the food chain. It's too emotive an issue and no-one wants to be responsible for effectively saying "Kill"! But that is unfortunately the only solution and until it happens, the situation will only exacerbate. It is an opportunity for some creative minds to save large tracts of the KNP where there are massive problems and also to provide an unparalleled source of meat for starving multitudes of our own people. Who is going to be brave enough, both in the public and private sector to tackle all this? So much could have been achieved with the money that was stupidly spent on building white elephant (no pun intended) stadiums for the farcical soccer world cup.

Gungets Tuft - Chez Kri - every visitor to Kruger gets given an entrance document explaining how to stay safe. People just don't read it. They get out of their vehicles, they follow and approach animals too closely, they speed, litter and park badly at sightings. You can lead this horse to water, but the rest is up to the individual.

SANParks operational staff do a great job, despite the public (uninformed) sentiment about this elephant. If people knew what they faced every day then they might just ease up a little and start contributing. In a day a section ranger can deal with enything from a shoot-out with poachers, speeding/crashed vehicles (a home affairs vehicle turned over yesterday!!), a leopard in a camp, a black mamba in a chalet, a flash flood, a fire, reports of animals in snares, drunk guests, and .. yes .. rogue animals (which could have anything from injuries to nerve damage in a broken tusk)

I advice anyone who wishes to criticise to buy and read Bruce Bryden's "A game Ranger Remembers", to just get an idea. Everyone gets all emotional about an ele (yes, it's sad, but ..) but don't spare a thought for the underpaid, overworked and clearly unappreciated ranger staff who put it on the line every day. People need to chill, and learn.

Dylon Damian - An animal just being an animal. A friend of mine who took pics of the car after the fact told me that they were warned that the elephants were on heat and shouldn't aggravate them further. But I guess being on top of the food chain has its perks.

Chris Carver-Brown - Human stupidity appears to know no bounds. Male Elephants in musth are well known to be aggressive;fact. That they fight with other bulls during this phase has been going on for millennia;fact. approaching a lone bull from behind and then not heeding its warning signs is the height of stupidity and ignorance;fact. That the elephant should pay with its life is a travesty. This video footage is enough evidence for me to convict the occupants of the Polo of gross negligence and provocation with intent.I hope the insurance company refuses to pay for the Polo based on this. Hardly justice for the death of a magninficent elephant.

[okie]

Thank you Sprocky .

Hmmm.... I think this person is missing the point ?

Quote by -Gungets Tuft - Chez Kri -

........... I advice anyone who wishes to criticise to buy and read Bruce Bryden's "A game Ranger Remembers", to just get an idea. Everyone gets all emotional about an ele (yes, it's sad, but ..) but don't spare a thought for the underpaid, overworked and clearly unappreciated ranger staff who put it on the line every day. People need to chill, and learn.

Unquote .


IMO , it is not so much the rangers that are criticised , but rather the decision to put the elephant down . It was poor and hasty decision , and the questionable motivation behind that decision . I just keep on wondering whether that decision was not perhaps taken with the idea of easy , cheap ( and legal ) bushmeat in mind , at this time of the year

[Sprocky]

2014-01-16

Nelspruit - Two tourists could have avoided an attack by an elephant in the Kruger National Park if they had known how to read its body language, an animal behaviour expert has said.

Les Hes, a wildlife guide with 35 years' experience in reading animal behaviour, was speaking after watching video footage of the attack posted on the internet this week, a Sapa correspondent reported on Wednesday.

The tourists, Sarah Brooks and her South African-born fiance Jans de Klerk, who live in Spalding, in the UK, made headlines two weeks ago when the elephant attacked them near the N'waswitshaka waterhole, near Pretoriuskop, on December 30.

They were following the elephant along a dirt road when it turned around, flipped their car and pushed it several hundred metres into the bush. Seconds before the attack, it briefly turned towards them, then carried on walking.

One of the elephant's tusks pierced the back of Brooks's thigh. She was airlifted to the Medi-Clinic hospital in Nelspruit, and was discharged on January 6.

The park decided to shoot the elephant, saying it had previously shown aggressive behaviour towards other elephants. Hes believed the tourists had been driving too close to the bull elephant, but that they could still have escaped the dangerous situation.

"It is actually very tragic that they had to shoot this elephant because of some stupid tourists.... When watching the video, it's clear that this was definitely the fault of the tourists. These were probably people who had no knowledge of elephant behaviour, and driving right up the elephant's backside was an invasion of space," he said.

"When the elephant turns sideways, it's obvious that he is aggravated by the car and the tourists should have realised that they need to get out."

Hes said rising elephant populations in the Kruger National Park and an increased number of tourists visiting the park increased the likelihood of such attacks. He advised people watching elephants to keep at least 15 metres away and to always have an escape route in mind.

"Read the animal's behaviour. There will always be a clear signal to let you know that he is aggressive," said Hes.

SA National Parks spokesman Ike Phaahla agreed that the couple had not kept a safe distance.

"Looking at the video, they followed the animal too closely, and when it turned, that's when they should have driven away."

He said it was difficult to reach a definitive conclusion without having been in the car with the couple.

Phaahla said that in the past, people had been banned from revisiting parks for reckless behaviour, but declined to say if this would apply to Brooks and De Klerk.

- SAPA

[SammyA]

2014-01-15

"People should not be quick to criticise the decision. 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."

I've read this quote a few times and it really confuses me, is it not normal for an adult male to fight with other adult males when he is in musth?

I'm by no means an expert in elephant behaviour but in every species I've ever read about in any depth males fighting over breeding rights is seen as normal behaviour and in every animal species I've ever had any experience (both domestic and wild) this is considered normal - even down to two of our dogs who are best friends all the time but bicker constantly when our female dogs are in season.

[Sprocky]

SA National Parks spokesman Ike Phaahla agreed that the couple had not kept a safe distance.

After making this statement, I bet SANParks still say that killing the Elephant was the right thing to do.

[Toko]

Sammy, some bulls are very aggressive in warding off rivals and can even kill other bulls. Agression when in musth is normal bull behaviour.

[PRWIN]

Here is the latest

http://www.sanparks.org/about/news/default.php?id=55975

Date: 16th January 2014


The South African National Parks (SANParks) has responded to a public outcry on its decision to euthanize an elephant that flipped over a vehicle belonging to a visiting British couple injuring the occupants on 30 December 2013.


Speaking from the Kruger National Park, the Managing Executive of this iconic park, Mr. Abe Sibiya said the incident is a consequence of parks allowing people to enjoy the natural environment; unfortunately some do so in an irresponsible manner. “While it is expected in an environment such as the Kruger National Park that human and animal conflict will always occur, it is also vitally important that members of the public visiting various national parks should always adhere to the rules.”

Sibiya said while the park can understand the public outcry and anger towards the management, it is critical for the public to have confidence on the park management. “The park is managed by adequately qualified officials who are able to make informed and appropriate decisions at any given time.”

According to Sibiya the decision to euthanize the animal was not taken lightly but based on the information from our well experienced Rangers assessment the animal was likely to attack tourist vehicles in the future. “It is for this reason that we appeal to our patrons to act in a responsible manner and give such information as quick as possible rather than share it on social media platforms.”

He said to bring closure to the matter; SANParks would need co-operation from the visitors that took the video. “The law stipulates that evidence such as this should be accompanied by a written statement from eyewitnesses as the footage cannot be the only permissible evidence in order to sanction any fine against the alleged perpetrators.”

“Tourists need to change their behavior when on self-game drives… “we drive this message in our communication at check in points, on our brochures and on the permits. It is highly impossible to have constant policing on holiday makers as the parks resources are already stretched with many operations going on at the same time,” concludes Sibiya.

Issued by:
South African National Parks (SANParks) Corporate Communications

The Video was in the car that got flipped, if the so called responsible rangers had taken the time to check the video in the car they would have known what happend with out the other video doing the rounds, thus losing eveidence as that tape will not be seen again