Ugab Elephants 'Being Driven to Distraction'

The Namibian (Windhoek)

June 24, 2004
Lindsay Dentlinger
Windhoek

FEARS are rife that irresponsible human activity - especially off-road motor vehicle sports in wetland areas - could threaten the return of desert elephants to the Ugab River.

Just more than a week ago, a herd of about 22 elephants returned to the river after having migrated north during the rainy season.

But the Operations Director of Elephant Human Relations Aid, Johannes Haasbroek, said on Monday that motor sport activity in the riverbed was making the elephants skittish.

Haasbroek has taken issue with last weekend's informal 4x4 gathering of the Namib Desert Club in particular; saying the activities had disrupted the main wetland, just west of the Brandberg Monument, where the majority of elephants have been living.

The organisation, which aims to foster tolerance and understanding between the local population and elephants in the area, said this type of human disturbance defeated intentions of trying to relax the elephants.

"Such things freak them out and make them aggressive. These animals are valuable assets to our country. Without the wetlands we would not have the elephants," said Haasbroek.

The Namib Desert Club's Vice President, Koos Theron, has denied having caused any disruption to the natural ecology of the area.

According to him the club operated under very strict policies.

He told The Namibian that the drivers of the 20 or so vehicles had acted responsibly and used existing tracks.

Theron said his club always operated with a scout to determine whether there were animals up ahead of where they were going.

"We approach them with absolute care and on foot. We always travel in a group," he said.

Theron told The Namibian that the group had travelled no more than 15 kilometres and had spotted three elephants along the way.

Haasbroek maintained that the animals were already distressed by having spent months in communal areas where, he claimed, they had been harassed by locals because of the damage they caused.

Other wildlife, such as gemsbok, zebras and springbok, are also dependent on the Ugab wetlands.

"It is an absolute disgrace. There is no way people should be allowed to do this. It has a massive ripple effect on tourism," maintained Haasbroek.

The desert elephants are a major tourist drawing card for the area.

But strained relations between farmers and the pachyderms over the years have meant that the animals have only just begun returning to the area in recent years - after having stayed away for more than 60 years.

Haasbroek said he feared that if the elephants became very aggressive through human activity, they would begin to harm locals and even tourists.

Worse still, the animals could harm themselves by trying to escape from the canyon and attempt to move to the Huab River instead.

Being communal land, there is no strict law enforced to regulate the type of activities that might take place in the country's riverbeds.

In response to the issue, Rod Braby of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism at Swakopmund said that his office had not received any formal complaints.

However, he said, in the past the Namib Desert Club had always acted responsibly.

He said the MET didn't want to be too stringent in prohibiting access to the country's natural resources, but that if there was proof that people were increasingly involved in irresponsible activities, something would have to be done.

"We can't say we are not concerned. If people continue to act irresponsibly it would place more pressure on us to put restrictions on activities," he told The Namibian.

Braby added that the effect of such activities on the desert elephants still had to be determined.