KZN considers reducing elephant population

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is considering relocating 1 050 elephants from several game reserves under its management due to concerns about the growing population’s impact on ecosystems. The conservation authority said once legislative approval is granted, elephants from Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, Ithala, uMkhuze, Tembe Elephant Park, and the Western Shores Game Reserves may have to be moved elsewhere. Ezemvelo’s head of biodiversity conservation operations, Vuyiswa Radebe, said there was growing concern about the increasing elephant population and the ecological imbalance it could create.

After last year’s Elephant Indaba, we discussed the issue of the population growth of elephants and measures to contain the numbers. “The aim was to deal with the norms and standards that were set by the government in 2008. For now, the matter of us reducing our population is still on paper until the legislation allows us to go ahead,” said Radebe.

She said the move was necessitated by the ecosystem imbalance that could be caused by the growing number of animals if their population rate is not controlled. Ezemvelo came under sharp criticism in 2024 after rangers killed nine elephants from the Mawana Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal after the animals reportedly escaped the reserve and entered nearby community land. Ten elephants from Ezemvelo were introduced to the reserve in 2003, and an additional five were sent there in 2004.

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“In January 2017, the reserve owner Mr Van der Walt passed away, and that’s when the wheels came off. In July of the same year, we received a complaint about 20 adult elephants from the reserve, and compliance notices were issued to the reserve. “Around 2020, there were reports that the elephants had trampled and killed a Mawana family member, the son-in-law of the owner, when he was trying to push them back into the reserve using something like firecrackers. We tried all we could to save those animals,” said Radebe.

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