Hello again! As promised, this blog is going to be dedicated to the elephant collaring from last weekend. It was such an exciting event that it most definitely deserves its own section!
Last Friday, David Daballen spotted the Empire Family – a family of elephants that STE hasn’t seen in the park for over a decade. Given the high levels of poaching pressure outside of the park in recent years, it was a relief for everyone to know that the Empire family is alive and well! The STE staff are keen to know where the Empire family goes as it might provide insight into how they have managed to survive these troubled times. It was important to collar someone in their family as soon as possible. They were unlikely to stay in the park for very long.
The next morning, the STE team prepared for the collaring. We scoped out the family to identify which individual would be best suited for collaring, and decided on a female named Roman. Roman looked healthy and was without a young calf; she is approximately 30-35 years old.
The collaring was a major effort, and I was impressed with how organized the STE team was. They managed to pull together all of the necessary resources, including coordination with a wildlife veterinarian, in less than 24 hours. The collaring operation itself went perfectly – the entire process took under 25 minutes (15 minutes from darting to fall, 8 minutes for the collaring, and 1 minute for recovery). After she recovered from the tranquilization, Roman re-joined her family nearby. The STE team checked on the family the next day to ensure all was well.
I can’t wait to see where she goes!
Till next time,
Laura