MBELEBELENI FOLK SHOO OFF ELEPHANT

MBELEBELENI – About 50 Mbelebeleni community members risked their lives when they shooed off an elephant in order to protect their community.

This took place yesterday morning, where the elephant was spotted crossing through the yards and fields of some homesteads and damaged fence and crops in the process. It was also gathered that the wild animal also destroyed some ‘gardens’ in the forests. According to Mkhiweni Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Masuku, after being spotted at Antioch on Sunday morning, the elephant was later seen moving towards Mbuluzi Army Barracks after lunch. He said yesterday, at around 6:45am, he received a call from residents of Mcozini, who informed him that they had spotted the elephant walking in their fields. Later on, he said he was called by residents of Mbelebeleni, who informed him that the elephant was in their community.

When this publication arrived at Mbelebeleni yesterday at around 9am, about 50 residents were found scattered in one of the forests by Mabuti River, where the elephant wandered to after they chased it away from their homes. The residents said shortly after learning about the news that there was an elephant on the loose in the area; they spotted the wild animal in the fields in one of the homesteads. They said as it passed through the fields, some crops, mainly maize which was ready for harvesting, was affected. In the meantime, they said some of them tried to come closer to it with the intention of taking pictures, but it ran from one homestead to another and in the process, tore apart the fence. Eventually, they said it ran into the forests towards the nearby river (Mabuti). With time, they said more residents joined them and they went to the forest to search for it, mainly for purposes of driving it away from the area.

Warn

They found it and it ran up and down the mountains. The MP of the area arrived and tried to warn them that according to the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, together with personnel from Big Game Parks – that if provoked, the elephant could attack them. He warned them to stop chasing it away. He said they should rather monitor where it went so that if they got people who would want to catch and take it back to where it belonged, they could assist them on where to look for it. However, the MP’s advice fell on deaf ears as some of the people who wanted to chase it away, were excited to see the elephant, thus they joined those who were looking for it in the forest. Later on, some of the residents raised a concern that the elephant could get angry and feared that it could attack them in their homes at night. Others also said their concern was that pupils, even those who were at primary level, walked in the forest when going to school and back home. Their concern was that they might come across the angry elephant, which could attack them.

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