SANParks.org Forums

from the home page
Luckily the tourist wasnt injured to bad

Oh, that’s very informative Bert, so....? It doesn't give a solution concerning animals being shot due to either human presence or stupidity. (because sorry, that incident of the ellie panel beating that person's car was a plain case of stupidity.) Hope they're not gonna gallop after him and shoot him too....

Dan, strong words
I just posted the link
But there is no evidence of this unfortunate person doing anything wrong
Try news24 for more photo's from a witness
news24

I just heard from a friend of mine that the Daily Mail in the UK has published an Article stating that the reason for the attack was that the Ellie has a Tooth abscess. Has anyone heard anything about this cause I can't seem to find it in the local stories.

Is that possible? *big eyes*

Did I miss a link here to this story?

I think I recall someone just mentioning it as a possible cause as there was a bit of blood on the door where its tooth went in.
Plus I think it has been seen in cases in the past where an aggressive ellie has had to be put down and it was found to be the case.
but unless the ellie were to be examined I don't think anyone can be sure.
Of course he might have been in musth which can also make them very unpredictable and aggressive.

(Of course unless I have also missed something somewhere!)

I'm a strong worded person Bert, I don’t walk circles around a bush.

For an elephant with a sore tooth his tusks worked very well. What I'm trying to say is when you see an elephant is in a gaga mood, you don’t go creep up on him, you give it space. Have this person ever heard of 1st gear or reverse? To sit there and wait till the elephant is on top of you is stupid, especially with the size of that boy. I don’t care if an elephant is flapping his ears or trumpeting or lazily eating a bundle of grass next to the road, you do not go and camp next to him. It is and will stay an animal and it is unpredictable, with size to match. You stay away from him and your car will stay on it's wheels.

Like Scipio said, it's not a zoo, and there is few people that I know that spended so much time with elephants as he did, and he give them more than a couple of meters to play with. Just give the animal some space for heavens sake! Hopefully this will be a reminder to all that read this forum, you are in their territory, and you will come second, no matter what type of animal you deal with....

btw, i fully agreed about giving a elephant bull or cow with calve space
Witnessed a nearly accident a month ago when a herd with calves want to cross the road near Transport dam.
white vehicle doing 40 breaked, turned towards a cow, because the driver wanted to make a image with his phone.
Cow in distress and the whole herd not happy .
i did reverse all the way till the herd passed the road.

You see?

It just seems to me that most do not pack in their common sence when they go to Kruger. (alas, it's not for sale) Do they think all animals in Kruger has been pre-trained not to charge or kick or steal your food. If you want your close-up so badly, get a bigger lens. if they want advice what to use they can PM you, as I recall the last time you had what, 3 cams and 5 or 6 lenses. Easy as pie...

Bert, the guys was probably from the BBM sightings group and had to take a pic with his Blackberry.

Dan, I remember a time where we left a certain vehicle in the road, Skeedaddling with great hast to another vehicle cause of an Ellie. Praying he will leave the stranded vehicle in one piece.

I do find the second car a bit daft, to have just been standing there. I would have Pooped myself, and put that ellie under a pile of dust.

unfortunate incidant, however I always believed that it was just a matter of time.

Banging of doors, hooting, reving engines, shouting, and trying to push big bulls off the road is a daily event I'm sure as i've seen it all on the few trips to the park, Ellies are not stupid or forgetful.
I think locals and visitors that have expierience of our parks and big 5 reserves know how things can get out of hand and generally know what to do or at least how to behave to minimise the risk.

The reason why I am posting is because i feel quite strongly that Sanparks could do alot to educate visitors by handing out a 1 pager at the gates. Many are in hire cars and visiting for the first time and really dont know how to read the signs of aggression/irratation in the big 5.

KNP is a dream destination for foreign visitors and KNP competes with other big 5 reserves, we should be doing everything we can to assist visitors have a safe and enjoyable expierience. I feel for those involved now not wanting to leave camp, what a shame.
Visitors leaving their cars and taking those photos at waterholes and bridges will be the next problem, i always wonder if they know the dangers they're exposing themselves to due to ignorance.

Not to be alarmist but statistically with more and more misbehaviour its bound to happen.

P.s this is not about foreigners as locals are more often than not culprits however at least they should know better, its about informing first time visitors how to read the signs and how to behave/avoid escalating agression.Definatly educate some locals too.
What a shame as can be seen in the photos, it could have probably been avoided.

They do actually alleycat............have you never read your permit, given to day and overnight visitors.
(The green leaflet that accompanies the printed permit, has all the do's and don'ts.)

and even a whole section on how to behave around elephants.

Alleycat

So correct, and as we all know, ignorance is the mother of all ............

@Scips

I don't think I'll forget very soon. Daai dag het amper ons of die jeep sy gat gesien...

Thanks Crested Val,

I do recall a rules and regs list, however on a recent trip to a non Sanparks big 5 reserve there is a whole section dedicated to "safe viewing of elephants". They have had the same incidant in the past year.

This information has 7 points under what to do and look out for including what to do when they're in the road, it specifically says "if an E is walking towards you DO NOT pull over to the side of the road and allow the E to pass as this is when they may turn their attention to the car....", it also has information on Musth, how to recognise it and what effects this has on their behaviour, as well as signs of irratation, resting trunk on tusks, crossing their legs, swinging front leg, smelling trunk held high, fluid from glands from female E's and many more points.
As the biggest animal we need to respect in the park i recall a couple of lines about musth, could be wrong, still believe that first time self drivers need more info.
I also believe that Elephants are getting more irritated, maybe its because of all the activity.

It really saddens me when I read newspaper speculations about "a tooth abscess" - because it usually ends up as a justification to put an ellie to sleep.

Have you ever seen an ellie dentist in Kruger? Each and every ellie will at various stages during it's lifetime have to deal with tooth problems, so does hippo, rhino, lions, etc. As we all know a toothache is not a pleasant experience at the best of times - imagine chomping down on.........hitting that nerve at just the right angle. Surely this happens every day somewhere in the park, now imagine you are the dentist in plain sight just ten meters away

Unfortunately there are way too many people that visit Kruger that do not know the difference between a wildlife conservation area and a holiday resort. And yes, I do know that accidents can and will happen - especially in dense bush