Video – INTERACTION WITH THE ELEPHANT BULL MONDZWENI
By Alan McSmith, private safari guide. While we sat and kept our distance, the great bull deliberately approached us. No aggression. Only curiosity. Only dignity. The connection crossed the line between what logic suggests and what empathy truly allows. He mirrored our intentions. Elephant are like this. Call it what you will; a unique sense of presence, a special sentiency, intelligence, complexity. An elephant encounter often defies any rational explanation. They awaken in us something primitive, humbling, inspiring and fundamentally crucial for our own sense of well being. Just as
TRACKING A SUPER-TUSKER
By Alan McSmith, private safari guide When Elephants Alive, a leading South Africa elephant research organisation asked me to assist in scouting for a unique elephant bull, I jumped at the chance. The elephant, known to The Kruger National Park as Mondzweni, is one of the largest emerging tuskers in the lowveld, therefore incredibly valuable for tourism, conservation and research purposes. As a result, Elephants Alive arranged a collaring operation so that he could be followed by satellite monitors. This is crucial to determine his range and movement patterns. And of
Video – Human wildlife conflict
Conflict between local community farmers and wildlife is common in rural Africa, and the Tuli Game Reserve in Eastern Botswana is no different. Elephant may leave the reserve perimeter and damage crops and plantations, while predators may kill and threaten livestock. A porous boundary also results in increased poaching and other illegal activities inside the protected areas. This all leads to friction between the communities and conservationists. As committed conservationists and ecotourism operators, we believe that the future of game reserves in Africa depends on solving these problems in
