Four elephants trapped in an overturned truck in Olifantskop Pass have been released into the wild at the Samara Karoo Reserve. According to the rewilding conservationists, the animals will not be hunted, as the national SPCA previously alleged.
ELEPHANTS WILL NOT BE HUNTED, SAYS SAMARA KAROO RESERVE
On Wednesday, 5 March, the SPCA revealed that four elephants were trapped in an overheated truck that had overturned in the Eastern Cape.
The NGO claimed that the animals were allegedly “donated” from SANParks to the Samara Karoo Reserve, which, according to a hunting website called Sniper Africa, offered hunting opportunities.
The accident reportedly took place after a “shift in weight” during the transportation.
Images via NSPCA
However, the private reserve has rubbished the allegations as “fake news.”
In a statement to The South African, Samara Karoo Reserve said: “Samara does not permit hunting of any animal species.
“The link referred to by NSPCA from Sniper Africa has no basis in fact. It has now been removed from the web. The NSPCA did not fact-check the claim made on the webpage, nor did they contact Samara for comment and clarification.
“The elephants have been safely released onto the reserve.”
Watch the elephants being released into the wild below…
WHERE DID THE ANIMALS COME FROM?
In a statement to The South African, SANParks stated that the four elephants were donated to the Samara Karoo Reserve for translocation.
Samara added on Facebook that the animals had been captured from SANParks’s Addo Elephant National Park and translocated to their site,with the aim of establishing a new population of elephants in the area.
It continued: “This translocation is about expanding the habitat available for elephants to thrive.
“Samara is assisting SANParks by providing homes for elephants as the current population in Addo Elephant National Park is expanding beyond the park’s habitat resources.
“All the appropriate permissions were granted for this translocation.”
IS REWILDING ANIMALS LIKE ELEPHANTS IMPORTANT FOR THE CONSERVATION?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to060 011 021 1.
Subscribe to The South African website’s newsletters and follow us onWhatsApp,Facebook, X, andBluesky for the latest news.
