Elephants give residents tough time, but end up as meat

Incidents of stray elephants are becoming a common occurrence in communities bordering the Kruger National Park and the Limpopo River. Recently, they caused havoc at Musunda outside Musina, where farmers suffered severe losses when a herd feasted on and trampled their crops, resulting in damage amounting to thousands of rands.

For two months, the community of Tshitavha Sambandou and neighbouring villages have known no peace because of a stray herd that has invaded their area. One of the affected residents is farmer Mr Avhasei Ndou, whose crops were destroyed. Ndou, who farms chillies and vegetables, said the community had been battling stray elephants for a long time.

“These unwelcome visitors have been here for some time now. They were first spotted in the nearby mountains about two months ago and then disappeared. Every time we spotted them, we reported them to the authorities but received no assistance as rangers refuse to put them down in the mountains. They always tell us to bring them down to the village where they can cut the tusks and take the heads with them,” he said.

Ndou said that he was one of the unlucky farmers who had had to bear the onslaught on their produce last week. “We lost a lot as farmers as they destroyed bananas and other crops. We had to come up with a plan and set boys to monitor them,” he said.

Ndou mentioned that four elephants were spotted next to a river on Friday, 14 June. “We summoned the rangers, who came and put down two, while the other two managed to escape. The whole community had a meaty feast over the long weekend, but it was unfortunate for me and my family as we are from the Ndou clan. The elephant is our totem and we do not eat its meat,” Ndou said.

Resident Ms Hope Mudau said that although they were in fear of the escaped elephants’ still being in the bushes, they appreciated the fact that two were killed and their meat shared by the community. “We had a meaty long weekend here,” she said.

Department of Economic Development and Environment spokesperson Mr Zaid Kalla confirmed that they had received reports of stray elephants and had responded swiftly. “The department has deployed officials to control the elephants, and the situation is under control. Two elephants were culled so far, and officials are still searching for the others,” he said.

Date:22 June 2024

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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