Elephant flees death by hiding in Etosha

AN elephant which had a death warrant issued on its life, rescued itself by returning to the safe boundaries of Etosha National Park this week.

Dr Kalumbi Shangula, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) said yesterday that the hunting permit that was issued to eliminate a problem elephant in the Omuntele constituency on the border of the national park, has been withdrawn.The elephant was earmarked to be shot, after Omutemo villagers last weekend called on the MET to issue a permit to have one of the six elephants killed, in an attempt to ‘frighten’ the rest into returning to the park. Shangula said the provisional hunter who arrived in the area to shoot one of the six animals accused by locals to have caused mayhem there during the past month, ‘was there for two days and then left’. He added that none of the elephants were shot, after they returned to Etosha. ‘When they are inside they are safe. Only when they cause problems, then we declare them as a problem animal’, the PS said.He said that he hopes the elephants will remain inside Etosha for the foreseeable future, but added that if they do leave the park again they remain safe unless ‘they cause trouble’. Last week, the PS noted that the Ministry is in the process of erecting elephant proof fences around the park which will alert wardens if animals try to escape.