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Attempted relocation of Tusker
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
May 13, 2007

Thank you to the people and companies who assisted us in our attempt to relocate Tusker from Kariba to Gonarezhou. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you view the situation, despite our best efforts, we failed. Tusker is however still alive and well, raiding dustbins at Wild Heritage.

Vicus Coetzee, Clem's son, provided us with an elephant container which Swift Transport collected from Triangle free of charge. When the container arrived in Harare, we found that one door needed to be replaced and it wasn't high enough to accommodate Tusker so Swift Engineering Division replaced the door and heightened the container for us in their workshops. It was a big job and took them the best part of 4 days to complete and once again, they did it free of charge. Thank you very much to the Swift employees who worked tirelessly, Saturday and Sunday included.

A big thank you to Terrier Services who donated the use of a low bed trailer on which to carry the elephant container. We needed 2 x 20 foot containers with which to build a recovery Boma for Tusker and we would like to thank Mrs Craven of Colbro Transport for lending them to us. A very big thank you also to Kevin Horsley of P & K Haulage who supplied us with the truck and trailer to take the containers to Kariba only requiring us to supply the diesel.

Swift Transport places enormous importance on conservation in Zimbabwe and their generosity knows no bounds. In addition to everything they had already contributed, they also supplied us with a truck to tow the low bed trailer with the elephant container to Kariba and if the relocation had been successful, their truck would have gone all the way to Gonarezhou and back. All they required from us was to replace the fuel used.

We left for Kariba last Friday and spent Saturday organizing for the capture to take place on Sunday. We needed a crane to move the containers to form the recovery boma and this was supplied free of charge, with the exception of fuel by Seppi Sigrist of Kariba to whom we are extremely grateful. We also needed a front end loader to dig a depression in the ground close to where the elephant fell so that the elephant container would be at ground level. This was very kindly supplied by Charles Boddy of the crocodile farm, again only requiring fuel.

A very big thank you to Steve Woodward, Alan Holt and Colin Ferguson for physically getting involved and assisting.

The veterinary surgeons, Keith Ducklow and Lisa Marabini arrived on Saturday. These two vets are very special people with a deep passion for wildlife and we had the benefit of their very professional and compassionate skills. Their only concern was the welfare of Tusker and they refused to accept any payment for the fantastic job they did. They are true conservationists and we don't have enough words to express our gratitude to them.

On Sunday morning, we placed a feeding block in an open area in front of Wild Heritage where we planned to dart Tusker. We found him ambling around the lodges at Wild Heritage and I managed to get him to follow me to the feeding block, luring him with oranges. He followed me trustingly like a puppy which made me feel very guilty because I was luring him out of the only home he had known for the past 30 or 40 years. I had a deep sense of sadness at the unfairness of it all because he was there long before the humans invaded his territory. I had to keep reminding myself that if we failed to remove him, he would be shot.

All went according to plan and Keith fired the dart as Tusker reached the feeding block. When he felt the dart, he started running towards me, probably thinking I was responsible for the stinging sensation in his rump. Fortunately, I managed to veer off to the left and he ran on for a couple of hundred metres and then collapsed. Keith and Lisa immediately got to work checking his vital signs, making sure he could breath, removing the dart and keeping him cool.

We were racing against time then because we couldn't leave Tusker unconscious for too long without endangering his life. Keith and Lisa monitored him constantly to make sure no harm came to him. A big thank you to Mike Hodson who did a sterling job of keeping him cool with water.
Meanwhile, we immediately got to work digging the depression and building the boma.

Once the depression was deep enough, the Swift truck reversed in with the elephant container and Seppi positioned the 2 x 20 foot containers with his crane. The containers did not suffice so the P & K Haulage truck reversed his trailer in to close off the boma.

An hour and a half had passed since Tusker was darted and Lisa insisted that he be woken up immediately because his breathing was changing so the reversal was administered. We waited quietly for a few minutes and then he regained consciousness and stood up with no fuss whatsoever. We tried to entice him with oranges to walk into the container for the next few hours. At one point, he put his great foot into the container and then changed his mind and refused to walk in. We considered forcing him in but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. He never at any time became aggressive and wasn't a threat to anyone.

We finally decided that everybody should leave. There were a lot of spectators and the vets felt that it didn't help that Tusker could hear and smell the people. They thought if we left him in peace, he may get hungry and walk into the container of his own accord to eat some of the inviting food we had put in there for him.

We were all hungry and exhausted so we went back to our cottage in Charara, very kindly provided by National Anglers' Union, leaving a handful of people, including Seppi and a couple of National Parks scouts to keep an eye on Tusker and to close the doors if he walked into the container. We decided that if he still had not budged by 10 o'clock that night, we would release him.

We went back to the site an hour later to find that he had forced his way out of the boma, damaging some of the dropsides on the P & K Haulage trailer in the process. Upon inspection, the vets found that his stools in the boma were very loose and he would therefore not have survived the trip to Gonarezhou anyway. To be honest, we were quite relieved that we had failed in our mission and I decided to try and find a way for Tusker to stay in Kariba where he belongs.

The following morning, we were very surprised and relieved to hear that Tusker was back at Wild Heritage rummaging through the dustbins as if nothing had happened so it doesn't seem as if our thwarted efforts traumatized him in any way.

Thanks very much to Keith Ballantyne of KB Engineering in Kariba who, together with Seppi Sigrist assisted us in offloading the empty elephant crate which he has offered to modify further.

Upon our return to Harare, I went to National Parks Headquarters and told them what had transpired. They showed compassion for Tusker and agreed that he can remain in Kariba. They won't shoot him as long as he doesn't hurt anyone, however, there are conditions to this reprieve. It was agreed that the reason Tusker has become so habituated to humans is because people feed the wild animals. There are signs in every National Park in the country, including Kariba, prohibiting the feeding of wild animals but there are people who ignore this. The ZCTF and National Parks are now working on implementing strict regulations with regard to this and anyone caught feeding animals in future will be subject to very harsh penalties. Vehicles will be searched upon entering a National Parks area and any citrus found will be confiscated. We appeal to everyone to comply with the authorities' requirements. They only have the welfare of the wildlife at heart and it is not their intention to inconvenience anyone.

There are various other measures we have promised National Parks we will implement to try and keep the elephants out of camping areas to ensure the safety of the tourists and local holiday makers. We will be calling a meeting soon in Kariba, which we hope will be attended by all those concerned, to discuss these measures.

We would like to thank Mr Chimuti, Mrs Thom and the Chief Warden of National Parks for being so understanding about Tusker and for giving us the permit to relocate him in the first place. Thanks to them, tourists who come to Zimbabwe will still have the privilege of seeing this amazing animal.

We are extremely grateful to the individuals and companies who came forward with fuel to help us save Tusker's life. Although his life was not saved by relocating him as we had planned, we believe that the amount of assistance we received in attempting the relocation demonstrated how well-loved he is and this is why NationalParks decided to give him a second chance. If any funds are left over from this attempted relocation, we will use them towards the implementation of measures to ensure that Tusker can remain where he is. We would like to acknowledge the following companies and groups for their assistance:

Sandvik
Mark Gascoigne
Marineland Kariba
Alro Shipping
Lyn Beahan/Peter Weinand
Harmony Projects of Canada
Packrite
Nets & Ropes
The Triangle Community
The Kariba Community

Visit the ZCTF fact sheet

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