A group of elephants that escaped from the Kruger National Park on Wednesday have returned back to the park, states reports.
Image: Unsplash / Ray Ru
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As per SABC News, the elephants had escaped the Kruger National Park on Wednesday 4 September, and were headed to the Mkhuhlu area.
A post shared to social media by SABC News shows a clip of the elephants on the loose:
VIDEO | Six elephants have escaped from the Kruger National Park and are enroute the Mkhuhlu area. pic.twitter.com/VhXV1AQcvX
— SABC News (@SABCNews) September 4, 2024
Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) spokesperson Simphiwe Shingube says that attempts to push the elephants back into the park on Wednesday had failed twice, due to disruption by community members and motorists blocking the way with bakkies.
“We can confirm that there are five elephants which escaped from Kruger National Park. We tried twice with the helicopter to push them back to the park. Unfortunately, we couldn’t succeed at the moment, however, we are monitoring the situation. Our team is on the ground to make sure that the community is safe and we are also trying other options so that the situation can come back to normal. We are saying to the nearby community they must not try to kill these elephants. They must also allow our team to work without any disturbance,” said Shingube, as per SABC.
On Wednesday night, the Lowvelder reported a sighting of the elephants along the Sabie River.
Following, a report published by Jacaranda on Thursday morning stated that SANParks spokesperson Ike Phaahla confirmed the elephants’ return to the park on Wednesday evening.
“Late yesterday (Wednesday) we received a report that a farmer had noticed the animals going back into the park, and it’s all six of them,” says Phaahla.
“We will get an update sometime this morning from the colleagues from MTPA (Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency) and also our rangers who were assisting them.”
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