Hormones behind jumbo attack?
2004-04-05 23:03
Durban - A young bull elephant in musth could have been the
reason for the fatal attack on a KwaZulu-Natal game ranger during a guided tour last week.
The elephant which trampled Fortune Mkhize, 27, manager of the
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Nature Reserve wilderness trails, to death is apparently one of a group of orphan elephants introduced to the reserve in 1980.
The orphans have attacked rhinos in the past.
However, older bulls from the Kruger Park were brought into Hluhluwe-Umfolozi a few years ago to discipline the rogue orphans, said Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Jeff
Gaisford.
Mkhize was trampled last Tuesday after he and another ranger and four tourists, came upon two bull elephants.
Testosterone levels rise
He was charged after getting the other ranger and the tourists to safety.
Bruce Page of the University of KwaZulu-Natal's elephant study group, said that, when in musth, bull elephants' testosterone level rose and caused them to fight for dominance.
He said that, in this condition, they would fight with
each other, with trees, rhinos and even people.
In normal herds, older bulls will stop a bull under 30 from going into musth, said Page.
Gaisford said Ezemvelo was waiting for a photograph taken by one of the tourists before Mkhize's death.
Once the elephant had been identified, they would take a
decision on its fate, he said.