ELEPHANTS ON THE MOVE DESPITE JUMBO PROBLEMS

The first eight elephants being translocated from Botswana to Angola have arrived despite the challenges faced by the human conservationalists.

Despite numerous obstacles including delays in veterinary permits and in aircraft arrival, malfunctioning technology, a helicopter with a flat battery and a stubborn elephant, the first group of eight elephants left Air Force Base Louis Trichardt at 06h05 (CAT) this morning (Tuesday, 4 September).

Airlifted in a huge Ilyushin cargo plane, they were expected to land at the Cabo Ledo airstrip at Quicama National Park in Angola later today. Given this delay, the capture of the second group of elephants has been postponed until Wednesday, 5 September. This relocation forms part of Operation Noahs Ark, a project aimed at restocking Angolas national parks. The project is spearheaded by the Kissama Foundation, which has been mandated by the Angolan government to reintroduce wildlife into its conservation areas.

WildNetAfrica.Orgs man on the spot, Dr Andrew McKenzie, has sent through the first batch of images portraying the capture of the first elephant group, which took place in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswanas Tuli Block. These images can be viewed and downloaded at: http://wildnetafrica.org/mediapics (South African access) or
http://wildnetafrica.com/mediapics (international access).
(Please credit WildNetAfrica.Org for any material used)

More information, including field notes, journal entries and guestbook comments are available on the website at: http://wildnetafrica.org/airlift. This information is freely available to visitors to the web site.

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For more information contact Pete Smith at pete@wildnetafrica.com, or Elfriede Ainslie or Adrienne Harris on +27 12 991-3083