Elephant Update - Final Chapter

Here is the latest update from the Wits management staff........

What a thrill and a pure privilege it has been for us to host this Gentle Giant over the past few days. Emails have been pouring in for the Elephants goodwill, sadly however, he had to be forcibly moved back to whence he came – Thornybush Game Reserve.

The whole operation had to be very carefully planned, coordinated and executed …..….after all he is a 7 ton plus elephant ……and a bushveld veteran of 54 years old.

• The local Hoedspruit vet, Dr Peter Rodgers who’s had many years experience, some gained in the early days with the Natal Parks Board Rhino Capture Team, was the right man for the job.
• Chris Mostert was the Game Capture Expert who had the right vehicles and machinery to successfully tackle the task at hand.
• Thornybush Game Reserve’s Chief & Coordinator of the Operation, Eugene together with Johan & Mike, both Section Rangers and the field staff were all at the ready.
• All the WRF field staff were on duty at 5am ready and anxious to assist.

Once the Elephant was found, the first 40 minutes had 4 of us in the all terrain Unimog, chasing after the elephant in very thick vegetation, while he played hide & seek. This was the less expensive way to go but it was just not working out, so the services of an experienced Pilot & Helicopter was summonsed, from Gravelotte area to assist and arrived some 25 minutes later. The chopper was in the air for all of 5 minutes when the dart from the vet’s gun struck home. Approx 8 minutes later the elephant slumped to the floor, in a deep sleep. Fortunately too Mother Nature smiled on us as it was a cool overcast morning with occasional drizzle, which aided in keeping the elephant cool.

The operation that followed took experts and a work force of 17, two hours, to load the elephant onto the mechanized flat bed trailer, together with the aid of a crane.

After this he was transported back to Thornybush through a section of the fence line near Caravilla. He was offloaded 15 minutes later and given the ‘wake up cocktail’ to get him on his feet again. Fortunately there were no mishaps and as far as we can tell no adverse effects on the Elephant nevertheless the Thornybush field staff will be keeping a watchful eye on him over the next 24 hours.

For interest the exercise took from 05:30hrs and finished at 12:00hrs and the cost implications came to just under R40, 000.00.