Why Did They Have To Kill The Elephant?

[trt]

They are wild animals and its the humans who are trespassing on their turf.

It makes me so mad when these beautiful animals are on the decline.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2537114/British-teacher-terrifying-ordeal-bull-elephant-filming-Kruger-National-Park-charges-vehicle-gorging-leg-tusk.html

[anotheoldgit]

emmie

/// it doesn't say what sort of injury, perhaps from another elephant encroaching on it's herd. ///

I would have thought that judging by the damager the elephant carried out on the vehicle, it would have been very fortunate not to have injured itself in the possess.

[emmie]

it might be their typo, i would have thought musk...

[emmie]

not musk, interesting word

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musth

[belrec]

Years ago I was in Kruger park and saw an elephant in obvious distress ahead that seemed to be threatening a car. Luckily it just made alot of noise and flapped its ears for about 10 mins then headed off into the bush. Quite scary and I was a few 100 yards away.

The cars coming the other way kept creeping forward which I think is part of what makes the animals scared.

I believe, could be wrong though, that standard practise is to stop the car and keep quiet.

Perhaps they could restrict visitors when the elephants are in this musth state, just keep them away from people.

[emmie]

that's what i thought as well, the people running the tours should be much more aware of the dangers for the elephants as well as the tourists.

[beso]

trt ///They are wild animals and its the humans who are trespassing on their turf.///

That is very easy to say for those fortunate enough to live in the developed world. Our ancestors killed of all the wild animals long ago.

Wild animals, particularly elephants, are scourge of subsistence farmers whose families' lives depend on their gardens. This is life or death.

Meanwhile, having destroyed our own natural ecosystems the developed world expects the poorest people on the planet to sacrifice there development n order to preserves the planet's dwindling diversity.

It must really stick in their throat particularly after countries like the UK built their prosperity on wealth stripped out of their empires for more than a century, costing countless lives in their host nations all in the drive for profit.

[belrec]

Have just had a look here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-25731241

from this other thread:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Animals-and-Nature/Question1307237.html

and it says "As they were driving behind the elephant, probably also taking a video of the elephant in front of them, the elephant apparently decided to turn around.

this is a definite no no.

If you see an animal ahead of you they recommend that you stop and let it go off the road before you move on. Could be why the elephant was so edgy.

[beso]

Would you be content if wolves roamed the streets in your neighbourhood?

[emmie]

that may or may not be true, but the poaching of elephants for the ivory is still as prevalent, not just about subsistence farmers. Ivory is a rare commodity in the face of the worlds condemnation of the killing of these beautiful creatures, so ivory is still being poached, and the rewards huge,
same for many endangered species, the Chinese are not noted for their
care that many of the animals they think have medicinal purposes won't be saved, it's what the market will pay, no matter the cost to the animals.
we wiped out species long before man held a gun, for food, not so much for sport.

[EDDIE51]

No choice, once the elephant had realised that it could overturn a car it would do it again and very possibly kill someone in the process. Elephants are very intelligent once it realised it could get away with attacking a car no car would be safe.

[beso]

The Chinese government has finally started to crack down. They burnt a big heap of ivory very recently.

[beso]

The elephant had tusks. Those who had it killed probably made a fortune.

Moreover there is a lot of Chinese investment in Africa.

[emmie]

how many elephants died because of it. Look at the figures, they are horrendous.

[emmie]

fro poaching and habitat loss, surely the worlds wildlife should be preserved where possible, we will all be the poorer for it if you no longer have tigers, lions, elephants, they have just as much a right as us, same as killing whales, not necessary..

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/02/african-elephant-numbers-fall-poaching

[carolegif]

They drive straight at the elephant! What were they thinking! It was a wild ani al

[EDDIE51]

The poaching is almost entirely to feed the Chinese market for ivory. When I lived in Zambia back in the 1970s, the Chinese had not got a hold on African building projects and there was hardly a Chinese presence. Elephants were so plentiful that they were regarded as a pest and there were plans to cull them. Hopefully the Chinese government has finally woken up to the problem.

[jno]

**Years ago I was in Kruger park and saw an elephant in obvious distress ahead that seemed to be threatening a car. Luckily it just made alot of noise and flapped its ears for about 10 mins then headed off into the bush**

That's what they do as a warning signal (maybe you've got too close to it or its baby); that's when you should back off. Not everyone is able to recognise this, though. You just drive through Kruger on roads, as I recall, so it wasn't exactly a case of intruding on the animals' territory - the tourists weren't roaming the savannah.

[Gromit]

They had plenty of time to pass the elephant, so what happened to them was largely self inflicted. The animal is wild, and saw the car as a threat.
Unfortunately, once the elephant has learned that cars are a threat and they can easily flip the car, then they are a danger.

[emmie]

but they were in a car, presumably on a tour as there were other vehicles behind. I don't blame the elephant, i blame the idiots running the tour.

[jno]

not necessarily a tour, you can drive your own car through Kruger.