People visiting Letaba Rest Camp in Kruger National Park have become accustomed to the beautiful statue of an elephant at the entrance to the elephant hall. This life-size statue became the backdrop for many a photo and represents the magnificent animals that frequent this area in the Park. When Letaba camp management discovered that the statue had begun leaning and was in danger of collapse due to long term rusting, a large scale ‘rescue’ operation was started.
Due to the size of the statue and the bad state it was in, logistics made it impossible to transport it to Pretoria where the oiriginal artist, Phil Minnaar, resides.
In 2010 the Sanparks Honorary Rangers Lowveld region decided to help find a solution and suggested a local artist in Gravelotte, Jean Meintjies. Jean was eager to undertake the work, and a fund raising exercise began. Through the continued support of the Sanparks Honorary Rangers the money was raised and with the help of the Game Capture division, a container was modified to securely move the statue to Gravelotte and back. Interesting things happened during the journey – the driver of the truck was even stopped and asked to produce his permit to transport an elephant!
Work on the elephant started in January 2011, and on 4 March it returned to Letaba to once again become the pride and joy of this restcamp, and to the delight of all visitors. Today saw the official unveiling of the statue and it offered an opportunity to thank the many people who were passionate enough to not let this icon go to waste.
