SA National Parks (SANParks) has reported the sighting of an elephant photographed by a trap camera in the Knysna forest on 6 November 2013.
“The footage includes photographs of an elephant whose tusks, trunk and legs are visible, but unfortunately the forehead shape as well as sex organs and ear-notch patterns are not visible for identification purposes,” said SANParks spokesperson Nandi Mgwadlamba.
She said this was significant because the Knysna forest is one of the few forests where elephants can be found.
The camera was placed in the Knysna forest for leopard research by the Landmark Foundation, she said.
According to Wikipedia, the Knysna elephants are a very small number of elephants, a relict population of large herds which roamed the Tsitsikamma Forest and surrounding regions at the southern tip of Africa until the 1800s and 1900s, when contact with farmers and hunters led to their near extinction.
Recent DNA analysis of dung samples has revealed the presence of at least 5 cows and possibly some bulls and calves, moving within an area of 121,000 hectares of forest managed by South African National Parks, and constituting the only unfenced elephant group in South Africa.
– Tourism Tattler Editor
