The money raised will be used to compensate the community. We ve sold several live lions to buyers over the past three years. Part of the South African National Parks s new policy on sustainable utilisation of natural resources is to start farming wild animals. The offer did not stipulate anything about hunting, only that the elephants could not be sold to circuses. But the litany of horrors facing the surplus and problem animals when they reach their new homes indicates not enough checks are being done at the receiving end.
Stories abound of elephants and rhinos being shot within days of relocation.
Two elephant bulls sold to a Northern Province hunting outfit last year were mowed down in a hail of bullets after they escaped from their new home. The Northern Province officials who shot them ran out of ammunition and had to cadge some from a passing motorist to finish the job. A rhino shot by a hunter within days of being relocated was wounded and left to rot in the veld. But Gertenbach says though they are disease-free and valuable as breeding stock, they won t be a loss to the park. Rangers say this is due not only to flood-damaged fencing, but to the recent closure of artificial water holes in the north of the park.