BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– Saddening
This best describes the emotions felt by many after BBC news reported that a Kenyan elephant, thought to have been Africa’s largest female tusker, has died of old age.
This was revealed by The National Network of Conservation Areas (NNCA), led by ANAC, which manages seven national parks, namely Quirimbas, Gorongosa, Mágoè, Bazaruto, Limpopo, Zinave and Banhine, and 12 national reserves.
The NNCA revealed that according to their tracking record there were traces of elephants in eSwatini that might be off springs to the Kenyan elephant.
Earlier this year the country saw over 11 elephants wander into the country and were further kept at Hlane Royal National Park.
According to Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, at the time of the invasion of the elephants, they were spotted at Lubhuku area, supposedly travelling towards Mpaka community.
It was later in that week; the elephants were spotted foraging on cane near the Ubombo Sugar Mill, after crossing into the country from Mozambique.
According to Google Map Distance, the elephants travelled a distance of about 78.9km from Tikhuba to Big Bend, which when travelling by car, it is an hour and 22 minutes. It is believed that the elephants crossed into the country along the borderline closer to Mambane-Tikhuba areas.
Meanwhile the deceased elephant Dida, also known as Queen of Tsavo, was aged between 60 and 65 years, the upper age limit of an elephant in the wild.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) hailed her as an ‘iconic matriarch’ of the Tsavo East National Park. Famed for her long tusks, Dida was a major tourist attraction at the park, the oldest in Kenya.
“She died from natural causes due to old age.”The KWS said on Twitter, attaching images of the elephant walking through the park covered in soil.
Dida was a “great repository of many decades worth of knowledge.” and had shepherded “her herd through many seasons and challenging time.” it added.
Meanwhile, two elephants have died of hunger in Imenti Forest on the slopes of Mount Kenya.
In the past year, Kenya has recorded 179 elephant deaths because of the drought affecting eastern Africa.
Conservationists say this is a setback considering the gains made over the years in tackling poaching through increased surveillance.
Following consecutive seasons of poor rains, rivers and water pans have dried up and grasslands have shrivelled up in the game reserves.
The KWS said steps were being taken to save the lives of animals – including digging boreholes and transporting water to dry up water pans and dams.
