Durban - A herd of elephants that were terrorising residents on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, who live in an area that falls under the KwaNyawo traditional authority, have migrated to eSwatini.
The assurance was given to Members of the Provincial Legislature(MPLs) when Ezemvelo KZN appeared before the Economic Development and Tourism portfolio committee last week.
The committee members wanted an update on what had been done to ensure the safety of the KwaNyawo community from the elephants that had escaped from a private game reserve, and moved to an Ezemvelo owned reserve.
According to Ezemvelo, in 1997 the elephants were introduced to the Phongola Game Reserve, a privately owned facility, and as time went on, there were concerns that the birth rate of the elephants was exceeding the carrying capacity of the park.
The elephant community continued growing despite the use of contraceptives and vasectomy methods to contain their population growth.
The elephants made it difficult for locals to go about their routine, prompting appeals for the government to either erecting a fence or implement other safety measures.
During the meeting it was reported that as part of the migration process, the troublesome elephants had moved to eSwatini, and with that brought relief to the local community.
Ezemvelo spokesperson Musa Mntambo told The Mercury on Monday, that they had met with the community to advise them that all the elephants had moved to neighbouring eSwatini.
“We met them in April and have urged the community to alert us in the event they spot any elephants in the neighbourhood so that the matter can be addressed swiftly,” he said.
Ezemvelo is a public entity that falls under the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and its primary role is to ensure that all the public game reserves are properly maintained and welcoming enough to attract tourists.