Elephants invade, terrorise Tonota

Boniface Keakabetse | Thursday December 8, 2016 16:22

 

Already, the department has received reports of elephants wandering around the village, ransacking homes and destroying fences.

Principal wildlife officer, Mbututu Mbututu told Mmegi that since Monday they have been receiving reports from members of the public who have spotted elephants in the area.

Mbututu said at this point it was unclear how many elephants were in the area, but their footprints had been seen.

“Our officers are currently out there doing survey so that we can establish their numbers. We heard that they were recently seen at Moshamo lands, about 16 kilometres west of Mandunyane village,” he said.

Mbututu said after receiving the reports of damage, officers had followed immediately to ensure that villagers were protected and to ask them not to panic.

“We have assessed the damage and the affected people will be compensated accordingly even though we currently do not have funds available to cover that,” Mbututu said.

He added: “Elephants are not risky to the public because people have been sensitised about their behaviour. But despite that we promise that there will be a series of kgotla meetings to educate people about elephants towards their safety”.

He said elephants were numerous in the area and usually invaded homes in search of water as Shashe River is located within the village.

“There is a need for us to go and sensitise people at the cattle posts and fields about preventive and reactive measures to wild animals,” Mbututu said.

Mbututu said it was often difficult to contain elephants as their movement was influenced by the availability of water among other things.

“We are currently conducting proactive patrols and attending to reports on time for people’s safety,” Mbututu said.

“We will work around the clock to ensure that the elephants are controlled.” In the meantime, villagers have been warned against going into the bushes and disturbing the animals as they could be injured or killed in attacks.