LAST ELEPHANT HERD

Evening Star, Issue 21632, 30 January 1934, Page 11

LAST ELEPHANT HERD

A SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE About forty South African elephants,, the last survivors of a vast herd which' once roamed more than 30,000 acres of forest land, are to be adopted and placed under the protection of tha South African Government. This herd inhabits the Addo Bush,-, forty miles of undulating land abova Algoa Bay in the Cape. Less than fifty years ago they were hundreds strong. Because they devastated many, farms in the district, war was declared by the farmers and their numbers were decimated. They were hunted so relentlessly, that there was danger of their being wiped out entirely, until the Government stepped in and established a reserve and built several windmills to insure a water supply. Some time ago it was suggested that attempts should be “made to domesticate, the elephants, instead of allowing* them to roam wild and periodically reducing their numbers. The idea, however, was dismissed as impracticable, irt view of the comparative failure of simi- , lar efforts in the past to train African’ elephants on the lines followed in India and Malaya. South Africa is beginning to regret - the wanton destruction of so much ofi her fauna in the past. Now, when it is almost too late to preserve some of the species, such as the white rhinoceros, a policy of preservation is being generally followed. * v The Addo Bush may possibly be declared a national, park, on the lines of the Kruger Reserve in the Transvaal.. The first necessity is the acquirement' of extra land adjoining the bush, which was pared down from time to time until its extent is now only one-ninth of the original. The addition of bushland, *nd of « less overgrown area, is most desirable, the latter specially for animals such as buck, which will be introduced into the proposal park. No difficulty, however, is expected in regard to obtaining extra laud, as an expanse of Stateowned property adjoins the reserve. In order to open the park to th* public, it will be necessary to clear stretches of bush to render it penetrable by vehicles. Efforts will be mado to obtain a Government grant for thit purpose. It is stated that the old elephants are not at all alarmed when ai motor car approaches, and the young ones are quite reconciled to motor transport. .-