Plans underway to relocate elephants from Pongolo Game Reserve
KZN Ezemvelo says
plans to relocate a herd of elephants from the private Pongolo Game Reserve to
a protected area are underway
Five poaching incidents have been recorded in the areas in the past six months where six elephants were killed after the animals allegedly got into conflict with local communities.
It's understood the roaming elephants crossed a dried-up river into the Pongola eastern shores in 2015, and have been multiplying over the years.
The growing presence of mammals has led to the destruction of biodiversity and caused conflict with the community that have been using that area.
Spokesperson Musa Mntambo says the first batch of the elephants will be translocated in March or April back to the private reserve, a national or an international protected area.
He says it may take more than a year to translocate them outside of the country if no suitable space is available within the country.
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"Ezemvelo acting CEO Sihle Mkhize has noted that elephants are a big problem, not only in KZN but in South Africa. We no longer have sufficient land to keep them, the sooner the land issue for elephants is addressed the better.
"As they are also an animalthat has caused many human - wildlife conflicts. I appeal to protected areas with extra space for elephants to contact us and we will donate the elephants."
