Project "500 Elephants"

Jacqueline Pratt-Tuke 2021 4th Grade Lexile: 1060

Five hundred twenty elephants found a new home at Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve in Malawi, a long, skinny country in southeastern Africa. Project “500 elephants” took two years and cost $1.6 million, making it one of the greatest animal relocations in conservation history.

SOLVING TWO PROBLEMS WITH ONE MAMMOTH MOVE

Between 2016 and 2017, a conservation organization called African Parks transported 350 elephants from Liwonde National Park to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. Then, they moved another 150 elephants from a park in Majete. African Parks relocated these 520 elephants because their numbers in Liwonde and Majete kept growing. More African elephants...hooray! So, why move them?

The large number of elephants stretched the resources found in their natural habitat: food was scarce, elephants were cramped, and the habitat deteriorated. At the same time, farms and towns spilled into elephant territory. Elephants lost land, and their population concentrated into even smaller areas. According to the World Wildlife Fund, African elephants’ range has decreased by 50% since 1979. In search of food, elephants raided fields and damaged farmers’ crops and property. Humans reacted by killing elephants. According to National Geographic, many elephants relocated from Liwonde and Majete had circular, bullet-shaped holes in their ears.

Nkhotakota — the elephants’ soon-to-be home — had the opposite problem. In Nkhotakota, there were few elephants. In the last 20 years, the elephant population decreased from 1,500 elephants to less than 100 due to poaching, reports National Geographic. Poachers killed elephants for their ivory tusks and sold the ivory illegally for huge profits. Two male elephant tusks can fetch up to $120,000.

In 2015, African Parks took control of Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. They immediately got to work making it a safe home for elephants. They installed fencing to keep out poachers, trained rangers to protect the wildlife, and worked with local communities to support the reserve. With the land protected, elephants could relocate from overcrowded Liwonde and Majete to the vast, 700 square mile reserve in Nkhotakota.

HOW TO MOVE AN ELEPHANT

Relocating 520 elephants, each weighing about 6-tons, required a mammoth move. The distance from Liwonde and Majete was too far for elephants to walk. And even if African Parks could have herded elephants that distance, too many Malawi towns and farms stood in the path. So instead, they moved the elephants using tranquilizing darts, gigantic cranes, and oversized trucks.

African Parks first spotted elephant herds from helicopters in Liwonde and Majete. Then, veterinarians shot elephants with tranquilizing darts from the helicopters. These darts contained medicine 10,000 times more powerful than morphine. After the medication sedated the elephants, a ground crew quickly prepared them for safe transport. They made sure the elephant’s trunk stayed clear so the giants could breathe. They flipped the elephants’ ears over their eyes to protect them from the scorching sun. They spray-painted numbers on the elephants’ sides to ensure they would stay with their herd and attached thick ropes to the elephants’ ankles.

Next, a specially-built crane hoisted the sleeping elephants upside down, carefully placing each one in a crate on a large truck. Once contained, veterinarians gave the elephants an antidote to help them slowly wake up. Since elephants live socially, African Parks kept elephant families together, sedating, moving, and then releasing each of the elephants at Nkhotakota to rejoin their herd.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve is Malawi’s oldest and largest national park. Under the management of African Parks, they hope the park will become a wildlife sanctuary that protects endangered species and educates the public through ecotourism — tourism that supports the conservation of wildlife and their habitats. By attracting visitors to the reserve, they also hope to provide jobs and opportunities to the community. Finally, African Parks believes “500 elephants” will inspire other organizations to take out-of-the-box actions to protect endangered species.