CHIRUNDU ELEPHANT PROGRAMME - PATROL UPDATE FOR 18th to 21st January 2015 from Nic N Iona Coetzee - Jecha Point Fishing Lodge I am afraid this could be the worst set of reports I have had to post since we started this programme. We started this programme to save Hop-a-Long and in doing so he was able to show us the true extent of the problems these elephant are facing in Chirundu. In reaction to the potential destruction of Hop-a-Long we came to find a growing border town that had a population of elephant either living on or around its outskirts or using it as a migratory route. We thought we were saving 1 elephant and have come to the point where we are potentially saving way more. The future of this programme and its success lies in the balance as I type and for now I will leave my opinion on what might happen next short and attempt it without emotion. Hop-a-longs life is now out of our hands. He has crossed the line one too many times and the potential for loss of life is too great. He is NOT aggressive towards humans in any way and has always made it clear what he thinks of us from a distance. He has likely seen too many deaths of his family over the years and coupled with his crippled back leg he just refuses to change his habit of doing whatever he can to get an easy meal. Time and time again he has shown his intelligence by adapting to Nics patrols and strategies and as the reports clearly show he has decided to keep to his old behaviour of tearing houses down or roofs off to get to some maize meal. Nic has tried everything and after yesterdays assault on a government vehicle we are now unable to sway the authorities anymore. I will keep you all informed as this situation unfolds. On to the patrol reports from Nic..... 18th January 2015 AM- Dropped Bell off in town to look for Hop a Long .I gave him some airtime that he could call me .I also gave him money for lunch as he would be out all day. At approximately four o’clock l got a call that there was an elephant at Riverside causing problems. Accompanied by Joe Anderson and Leone. Before we got to the last house where the damage had supposedly been done, we came across hop a long merely eating food left overs that had been discarded behind the house. There were kids playing in front of the house and nobody, neither the elephant nor the kids were concerned! I loaded up and shot him. Just behind the house there was a thick Jesse, humanly not able to penetrate. All around was also a thick luscious stand of grass, certainly no shortage of food, yet he was obsessed in getting to the food that was offered to him. Nonetheless, he crossed through the Jesse, out onto the other side ,behind the houses along the side of the hill, only briefly stopping to splash mud on him and continued down and along to the Zambezi. He was traumatised by one chilli ball. I then proceeded to the last house and there l found Bell and a very irate man from VID department. I explained to him that initially there were no problem animals but people have been feeding the animals and they in turn have now become a problem. We returned to the town it was very dark and drove around and found another elephant near the Government houses. It was difficult to see which elephant it was. I loaded the gun for Bell in the meantime the elephant had already sensed danger and was off. I drove after him as he ran across the soccer field. He was running fast but Bell managed to get a good shot in and it happened to be none other than Chilli Boy. We found another young bull behind the Catholic Church which Bell had another go at. We returned to camp at 10 pm very tired. 19th.January- no elephant 20th January 2015 Am- We received a call from Riverside that there was an elephant. I proceeded there with Bell and as we got to the houses we spotted hop a long eating behind the houses near the Jesse bush. I drove around the houses and switched off the engine and Loaded up. I was using the new soft balls. At the shot l saw the chilli ball disappearing over his head. He spun around to see what made the bang as we were not visible to him. I rushed back to the land rover and got one of the original balls that was left and went back and got another shot in before he disappeared .This time the chilli ball went true and l hit him on the ear. He crashed off through the bush and disappeared out of sight. We drove around to an open area and Bell thought he had spotted Hop along .With his rifle and myself with the chilli gun we gingerly sneaked towards the Jesse to the elephant. The bush was very thick and we had to get close to get a clear shot. We crept to approximately six paces away. I managed a quartering shot away. This took the elephant by surprise as he did not expect to be confronted in this thick Jesse bush. I loaded again as he had only moved a couple of paces. This time he got it in the middle of his face. He attempted a mock charge, I shouted and he took off in the opposite direction .Bell fired a shot in the air to help him on his way. It turned out to be Chilli Boy and NOT Hop a long!! From the first encounter with Hop a long he has disappeared. Chilli boy had obviously heard the land rover and hid in the Jesse like he always does. Just prior to Bell spotting Chilli Boy he had encountered two young bulls feeding in the open and they showed no concern with presence of the vehicle. We drove back to town and had a meeting at the President’s Office concerning the elephants at Riverside. I expressed my concern at the shops and residents feeding the animals instead of disposing of their waste by digging deep pits and burning. Here we were trying to scare off the elephants for the safety of all concerned,especialy at night, yet they were calling them back when we leave the scene. THere is no cooperation. The Council is doing its utmost best to dispose of the garbage in the town but very difficult to cope with their small truck. In the majority of the areas there are no dustbins. Consequently garbage is dumped behind the houses. The Office agreed to call meetings with the Stakeholders regarding the disposal of garbage and food. Mr, Gunhe, the Acting Secretary had also written a letter to the heads of Departments regarding waste disposal. Whilst driving back to camp after the meeting a call came again saying that there were elephants causing problems at the Riverside. I returned to the President’s Office and collected an official from their office and drove to the area. Bell and the Officer were on the back of the landrover.As we approached we came across three young bulls feeding below the gulley. In between was this thick vegetated gulley where the elephants were feeding. I asked the Official where the problem or danger was. He had to admit that there was none. We sat and watched awhile while two young bulls were playfully pushing each other around. It started to rain and l drove back to the office. The fact that there has been a couple of incidents where wooden cabins were damaged, word has got around and people are paranoid. To date the programme has been very effective and the only stumbling block at this point in time is the garbage, drawing the animals in town. Had a call out early in the evening –accompanied by Joe and Bell, rushed to Bagdad? When we got there we found the same group of five young bulls that l had encountered earlier in the day. They had gone past Bagdad and were near the Catholic Church en route to the other side of Chirundu. They were on a migratory route through town. I had Bell fire two chilli balls as to apiece the local people. The elephants took off heading towards the Zambezi. We returned to camp. 21st January 2015 Am- No elephants reported. PM- had a report that a ZIMRA employee’s car was damaged last night at the Zimra Flats. I went to Zimra to see the car. She had apparently left for Harare in the car to be repaired by her Insurance company. I saw some photos and it appears the elephant tried to gain access to the car’s boot. The possibility of it being Hop along is very likely. I had a meeting with the Zimra deputy Station Manager regarding the discarding of food stuff/leftovers that draw the elephants into these conflict situations. I suggested that food stuff like sadza etc be buried and the plastics burnt. He was going to convene a meeting with his Personnel in this regard. EARLY EVENING – We responded to a telephone call that there were elephants at Rutenda school. En Route we came across a young bull opposite the Total garage. On hearing and seeing the vehicle he took off. He never stopped running, We found two young bulls between the market place and the school .I gave chase and Bell fired a quick shot. Both disappeared into the night. We drove back past Off Road and around the Customs gates. We thought we saw an elephant disappearing into the night. We drove back towards Off Road again and there was chilli boy. Moments earlier he was not there. It is as if he waited for the land rover to disappear before he made his entry. We had already loaded and Bell was at the ready on the back of the vehicle and before he could realise that we were near him, Bell shot him slap bang in the middle of the face. He sort of stumbled backwards, regained his balance and took off up the tar road toward the clinic; I drove after him, banging on the door. This really spurred him on, and after one hundred meters he trumpeted and veered off the road into the thick bush. We never saw him again and we returned to camp. end of reports..... Thanks again for your support. Aaron.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 10:12:38 +0000
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