A herd of 400 elephants from the Savé Valley Conservancy, a park in southern Zimbabwe, are being relocated to Sapi in the Zambezi Valley in northern Zimbabwe as the wildlife population is beyond what can be managed.
The initiative is part of the Great Plains Foundation’s ReWild Zambezi project, which started in June 2022 and will run for two years. In addition to the elephants, another 2,200 animals will be relocated.
In order to convict the mammals, arrows with tranquilizers were fired at them from a helicopter. Shortly after, a team of veterinarians rushed to monitor the vital signs and breathing of the nowsedated elephants to make sure they weren’t panicking or distressed.
The anesthetized animals were then lifted upside down by the legs onto a trailer using a crane. Finally, they were transferred to large special containers for transport and travel.
The 700kilometer journey between southern and northern Zimbabwe is not one of the smoothest. Parts of the route are dangerous, including potholed roads and cliffs. To date, 101 African elephants have been transferred in this way in groups of six to eight.
“There will be consistent assessments of impacts on resident populations, rates of adaptation of new releases, impacts on vegetation, migration and impacts of human interactions,” the ReWild Zambezi Project said in a statement.
ReWild Zambezi will also conduct additional antipoaching training to protect the area, as well as conduct research and promote science in collaboration with Washington State University and Zimbabwean universities.
The relocated elephants are adapting well to their new environment, Great Plains Conservation told the Zim Morning Post.
“From what we’ve tracked them online, all 101 seem to be adapting well to the area, adapting well, and have even started to integrate with the resident herds to some degree,” he said. “The translocation was carried out very professionally and safely for all animals and humans involved without incident. So we can say it’s been a great success so far.”
* Intern at R7under the direction of Pablo Marques