Dangerous elephant still at large
The elephant we reported a few days ago is still in the area. I gave the details to the game scouts but so far no action has been taken by them. It is a dangerous situation, particularly as Lion Guardian Olubi thinks the elephant may be sick. When he saw it today it was not feeding and the area is very dry.
The community is worried, mostly for the herders who graze their livestock around the area since most of them are women or young boys. Olubi has been working tirelessly to make sure that herders or women collecting firewood will not bump into this elephant. Pepper is indeed a good prevention method but there are no farms near the area so we have no way of getting it.
Sadly a brother of Lion Guardian Koikai was killed by an elephant a few weeks ago. We are pleased to say that despite this the community have not retaliated and attacked the elephant that is roaming near their community. Even Koikai, whose brother was killed says he doesn’t feel anger towards elephants. Here he tells us that even though this sad thing happened it doesn’t make him feel like he wants to go out and kill the elephant. As a Lion Guardian he feels he must protect all animals.
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Oh, please send condolences to Koikai….and I am very impressed that he does not feel that killing the elephant will help the situation. I hope that you can come to some sort of solution for this poor animal…can a vet get in there and dart it?
I just read about “musth” in elephants and it does sound like this could be your elephants problem…I also read that one way they contain bulls going through this dangerous cycle is forced starvation for a few day as it helps relieve the symptoms…perhaps this is why the elephant is not eating…nature helping him to get past this problem? have you tried contacting Joyce Poole at Elephant Voices to see if they have any expereince with this? http://elephantvoices.wildlifedirect.org/
Please pass along my condolences to Koikai. I am happy to hear he feels no animosity towards the elephant that killed his brother. Sometimes it’s hard for humans to understand that the animals aren’t behaving maliciously, they’re just doing what they do when feeling startled or threatened.
Hi Anthony, this is terrible news about Koikai’s brother. A friend of mines wife was killed by an elephant a few years ago – it must be one of the most difficult things to deal with. If you get a chance to see this elephant try to see if it has any injuries, sometimes that is the cause for it’s ‘bad’ behavior. I was with the KWS Director yesterday and while he’s feeling really good about recent seizures of snakes in trade, he is very stretched when it comes to problem animal control. I don’t think there is enough done on dealing with these problems which are the reason why so many Kenyans have a hard time being wildlife friendly.
i’m happy to read this site internet of environnement , conservation , i send my condeleance all of you.
think you!
i live in Kindu, DRC
good bye
i speack french, so the Englis is difficult for me.
Pole Koikai, it is very sad about your brother.
As of the elephant’s questionable health, I agree with Paula and Christine C, the elephant needs a diagnosis. You could call up any elephant behavior expert and have them confirm/rule out musth…then maybe request a vet from KWS (or private wildlife conservancy) to dart and inspect the elephant for possible injury or other ailment. Maybe the solution could be very simple. If the elephant continues to terrorize locals – I am afraid – the KWS might send rangers to shoot it.
Koikai..so sorry to hear this news please accept all of our sympathies….I cannot imagine living where these animals roam around….but you have such a beautiful land and are lucky also to live so close to these creatures………I hope a solution can be reached for both the people of this area and the elephant….
Hello, Salumu! It is nice to see another commenter on the blogs. Antony, please pass my condolences along to Koikai.
Thanks every one for your condolenses messages, it encourages us to move on. I will for sure pass Koikai’s messages. For those who are new to this blog like Salumu; you are most welcomed.