IMPORTANT!!!! CHIRUNDU ELEPHANT PROGRAM PATROL UPDATE FOR 21st, 22nd & 23rd of NOVEMBER 2014. via Nic Coetzee @ Jecha Point Fishing Lodge And again we have a not so good day followed by 2 awesome days. I know this is a lot of information and not many people have the time to read it all. I want to highlight that we have 2 major points to be aware of here. 1. Zimbabwe Parks & wildlife Authority are happy with our progress and currently there is no threat to use lethal means to deal with a problem elephant. 2. Hop-A-Long has a attitude problem and IF we do not keep him out of town he WILL be destroyed (shot). We are very lucky the Coetzees at Jecha Point have patience and understand we are in their (the elephants) environment and not the other way around. Basically there has to be a conscious decision that this programme is ongoing, that we need funding to innovate our tools and to develop new ones. I am at the point where I almost have to ask myself what is each of these elephant worth? Stupid question for most of us.....but at some point one I may have to answer it :( 21ST November 2014 AM - NO elephants. MIDDAY - Amelia called to say there was an elephant with a sore leg causing problems at the Zimra flats. We headed towards the complex and saw Hop a Long coming down the road. He was walking very slowly, not only because of his limp but also from his recent injury. He is unable to bend the front leg and walks by swaying the front leg outwards and then forward. The swelling seems to have gone down a lot as well as the foot is looking a lot better. I tried to block his route to Off Road rubbish pit. He momentarily stopped and reached out with his trunk and touched the land rover several times then continued to the rubbish pit! I loaded with a new chilli ball and fired at close range head on. He was not phased. Loaded up again and fired again, the two shots six inches apart between the tusks. He continued for a while and l was at a loss as to where to shoot him next. There appears to be a delay before there is any effect. He then stopped, picked up a big piece of sadza and walked towards Chapungu . He stopped at the rubbish pit and started to rummage in the rubbish again. I loaded up with a normal chilli ball and shot him by the ear, where it joins the head. He then immediately walked off across the main tar road to a water seep next to the Police Station and sprayed his whole body and face with water, which was obvious he was trying to get rid of the irritation. PM - Amelia called to say that there were more elephants near Bagdad and at the same time Roderick called to say there was an elephant at the Market place. We first attended to the market place and Chilli boy was eating the left over’s which the vendors had left lying about. I shot him on the ear with the new chilli ball. He slowly moved off, almost showing a look on his face as if to say “why are you bothering me when the people left me this food” In a nutshell- we will continue to have elephants if all this food is left around for them to eat. I would strongly suggest that an appeal should be made for +well wishes” to kindly donate some dustbins for the vendors to use at the Market place on Mondays and Fridays and the Council truck to be ready to collect these at the end of the day at the dump site outside Chirundu. The long term solution- possibly an incinerator? Left Chilli Boy heading towards the truck stop in the Jesse bush. AS we drove off, we were told that there were elephants at Bagdad. Found one elephant near the Jesse bush near the site where a new house is being built. I could not get close enough so approached the elephant on foot. As l shot him he moved off further into the bush. Could hear the second elephant moving around the Jesse. Gave Amelia money for airtime. Returned to camp. 22nd November 2014 No elephants all day Hop a Long was at the camp in the afternoon. He visited our house and chose to attack our table outside which l was busy reloading the chilli balls on. He tried to lift the table for a second time when l was then able to chase him off. In the evening he again came into camp and headed straight for the guests dinner table. Fortunately, for the guests, they had already eaten and the table had been cleared but, unfortunate for him, there was no dinner! He then walked over to the chairs around the fire and picked one by one up and threw them to the ground and then walked off! Luckily this was in our camp and not in the village. 23rd November 2014 No elephants all day So we take the bad with the awesome and again my assessment is that we are winning. We need to take this further and I need a time machine so i can squeeze another 12 hours into the day. Right now time is against me and as much as funding would be great I need to create a solution to the long term structure of this programme. We have HUGE potential right here, we have the ability to create solutions that will save the life of an important species in Africa. Not just 1 elephant, but potentially 5 + per year in Chirundu alone!!!!!
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 10:37:59 +0000