Translocating Elephants

When I was first in Zimbabwe (and that was many years ago) I was working in Save Valley Conservancy, situated in the south east lowveld.  It was in 1992, the rains had not come, people were starving and animals were dying, it was not the best first impression of Africa.  The earth was sun baked to such extremes that water holes had become dust bowls, river crossings were not longer needed as you could drive anywhere and the nearby swimming pool was bone dry as the local wildlife has drunk it dry with the help of evaporation, it was the time of extremes.

And where I was based was not the worst hit - further south in Gonerezhou National Park, the game there were suffering, horrifically.  Gonerezhou was famous for teeming wildlife, in particular the massive herds of elephants inhabiting the area.  It is a beautiful part of the country and exceptionally wild in some places, truly the essence of Africa.  But in 1992, it was more accurately described as an elephant grave yard.  Gonerezhou was littered with the skulls of elephant, it was a place of death and the stench was indescribable.

So action needed to be taken.  And elephants saved.  So the members of Save Valley Conservancy came up with this plan of translocating some of the elephants out of Gonerezhou and into Save Valley Conservancy.  In Save there were alternative sources of water and the game were being fed to keep them alive, and if some of the elephants could be saved in the same manner, then it was worth a try.

So on an early African morning, there was a group of us waiting in the bush for the arrival of the largest elephant translocated in Zimbabwe.  We had heard that an enormous bull had been captured, put into a crate, loaded onto a truck and was being driven up to Save by road.  An incredible feat as at the time as it was the largest animal ever to be moved in Zimbabwe, and could potentially be the beginning of a mass move of elephants and other game out of drought stricken areas.  So we were rather anxious as to how the elephant would react to its journey and to its new surroundings. 

More often than not it is advisable to put a newly translocated animal into a boma for a while, or a holding pen, to allow it to get used to its new surroundings and become acclimatised to the different sounds and smells.  However, with such a large animal, this was not going to feasible, so the plan was to open up the crate and allow the elephant to walk out into a remoter part of the Conservancy where there were little distractions and where the vegetation was similar to that of its previous home.  So there we all were, waiting for the newest addition to Save. 

He arrived in the mid morning, and the crate was positioned so that the entrance pointed into the bush.  There were a number of trucks and cars parked at a respectable distance away and we all waited with bated breath.  The door was opened..... and nothing happened.  He just stood there, watching, waiting for what I do not know.  He was not coming out, that was one thing for sure.  Half an hour passed and nothing had happened.  A few people had left but I still watched with anticipation to see the first elephant released into Save Valley Conservancy.  Still he did not budge.

And then suddenly, with no warning at all, there was a trumpet and 4 tonnes of elephant charged out of the crate, scattering complacent viewers and leaving a wake of destruction in the form of broken trees and one dented truck.  And then there was silence.  That was it.  One elephant introduced into Save Valley Conservancy. Rather an anti climax really.

But that is the excitement of being in the African bush, the unpredictability of life. In the blink of an eye it had all happened and there was now a bull rampaging around my stomping ground.  I would have to be a bit warier when out in the bush now.  And that made my life a bit more exciting in the following months as we met on a number of occasions!