| An
article with the above heading appeared in the Saturday Telegraph
on 10 May 2003. It highlights the dangers posed to tourists
if they are taken out into the bush with inexperienced or unqualified
guards. Calvin Cottar is quoted as saying "guides should
have guns and know how to use them".
The following
is a list of some of the people who have been killed by elephants
in the past 3 years. The Laikipia District in Kenya is mentioned
several times; this is the area where Il Ngwesi and Lewa Downs
Conservancy are located: -
1 A charging elephant killed Pauline Stratton,
a British nurse during a working holiday in Llwonde
National Park, Malawi. She was trampled to death whilst out
on a walking safari.
2 Andre Klocke, a 28 year old experience
guide was gored to death by a domesticated elephant being
used for riding safaris in June 2000.
3 A German
tourist was trampled to death by an elephant in August
2001.
4 Steven Street suffered multiple
injuries after being trampled by a bull elephant whilst on
safari in Botswana. October 1999.
5 Edward Harrison was trampled
to death by an elephant in the Masai Mara in August 2000
6 A Kenyan
man was trampled to death by an elephant in the Laikipia
area of Kenya in August 2003. In the newspaper report it was
claimed that elephants in Laikipia had killed 20 people in
the preceding 6 months. Juliu Kiman of the Kenya Wildlife
Service denied this but it was accepted that animal-human
conflict in the Laikipia area during July-October migration
is intense.
7 Zambia – a safari
guide was killed by an elephant
8 Namibia – an American
tourist was killed by a charging elephant
9 Northern Botswana – a
group of tourists were charged by an elephant. It was
shot dead but two of the group were crushed by the elephant
when it fell down dead, causing serious injuries
10 January 2001 – an elephant
killed An American Peace Corps volunteer.
11 June 2002 – a
rampaging elephant killed Mr Jarso Dima, a father of 6.
12 Wendy Martin
– trampled and gored by an elephant at Il Ngwesi Group
Ranch June 2000. Miraculously I survived.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. The details have been
taken from various newspaper reports and websites. It does,
however, highlight the view that Elephants are dangerous and
can kill.
 James
Shikwati in his article "How to Protect People and Wildlife
in Kenya" writes that "right now people are out
of the loop. On average more than 15 people are killed by
wild animals each year, with the highest number of recorded
deaths at 55 people in 1992. According to the Kenya Wildlife
Service, elephants cause 75% of human deaths from wildlife.
The government offers 30,000 shillings ($398) as compensation
for each person killed. The bureaucracy involved to get the
compensation may take more than 10 years. This has made the
locals rightly conclude that the government values wildlife
more than people."
The
African Wildlife Foundation printed an article containing
the following statements" "The problem is getting
worse, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), particularly
in the Laikipia/Samburu ecosystem. Hardly a day goes by without
a person being killed by elephants, reports Nairobi’s
East African Standard. A KWS communications officer explains
that in Laikipia, the situation has been worsened by destruction
of the Marmanet Forest, where the elephants lived"
Another
article entitled "Elephants keep Kenyan Kids Hungry and
Away from School". Source Environment News Service May
2000. This article states "More than 300 pupils who attend
Marura Primary School have been staying at home since the
schools opened in January because the animals have been on
their farms day and night. The elephants have broken through
the solar powered electric fence of Sweetwaters game reserve."
CNN
reported this story in November 1999. "Does Wildlife
protection threaten public safety?". "Sometimes
people have needed protection from the protected animals.
Kenya’s agricultural regions have reported many instances
of people being maimed in attacks -- and some fatalities".
Where an elephant is involved the person under attack usually
dies.
Basil
Mwakiringo of Kenya’s parliament is quoted as saying
"When it attacks our animals, when it attacks our people,
we definitely have to kill that animal. Definitely".
It is been reported to me that the elephant, which attacked
me at Il Ngwesi, is known as a very bad tempered beast and
is still in the area of the Il Ngwesi Lodge.
A
very interesting article was published in July 1996 entitled
"Why are elephants attacking people" by Eddie Koch.
He states, "It is as though the animals are beginning
to bite back. They are being hunted, culled, captured, transported
and shunted into small and closed game reserves, and not enough
research is being done about the impact such practices have
on these dangerous beasts. What we may be seeing are early
warning signs that conservationists may have been playing
God with the animals without anticipating the consequences".
Again,
the above articles are just examples of the many writers and
researchers who have highlighted the problems that marauding
elephants can cause. I have restricted the information contained
in this document to African elephants but there are a large
number of reports of fatalities caused by Asian elephants
marauding though rural villages and reeking havoc.
As
I have stated in my leaflet, I do support Wildlife Conservation
but not when the lives of innocent people are put at risk.
Wendy Martin
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