Two elephants killed within a week

ELLANIE SMIT

WINDHOEK



Two elephants have been killed within a week of each other.

One of the animals was killed during an illegal hunt, while the other was killed to address human-wildlife-conflict.

It is suspected that an elephant found dead at a farm in the Ndonga Linena constituency in Kavango East last week was first shot somewhere else.

The carcass of the elephant was discovered last Tuesday at Farm Nanava, approximately 90km southeast of Rundu.



Investigation done

According to environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, a follow-up investigation was done on the same day.

“It was established that the elephant had a bullet hole above the right eye.

“The elephant might have been shot somewhere and fell in the harvested crop field of the Nanava farm.”

Muyunda said the scene was trampled by grazing livestock and therefore it was difficult to determine where the elephant came from.

Villagers were hesitant to share information, he added.



Tusks intact

Muyunda said the tusks of the elephant were still intact when the animal was found, and were later removed and booked for safekeeping at the Rundu police station.

No suspects have been arrested and no case number has been registered yet.

The meat of the elephant was left for the community to eat, as it was still fresh.



Human-wildlife conflict

In another incident, on Tuesday a problem elephant was destroyed by ministry officials in the Omusati Region.

According to the ministry, the elephant was shot in the area of the Otamanzi constituency and Amalika village to address human-wildlife conflict.