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April 26, 2006 - 10:28 ET Young Elephants Snatched from the WildCAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA--(CCNMatthews - April 26, 2006) - Six young wild elephants were forcibly removed from their herd last week and condemned to lives of abuse as safari elephants - with the full approval of South Africa's conservation authorities, and overseen by the country's primary animal welfare organization. The elephants have been taken to the training facility of Elephants For Africa Forever (EFAF), a centre which notoriously supplies "tamed and trained" elephants to elephant-riding safari tourism operations throughout South Africa. Permits allowing the capture were issued by Limpopo Province and, according to the main shareholder of Selati Game Reserve from where the animals were taken, the event was monitored by a senior representative of the National Council of the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA). IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare - www.ifaw.org) said the issuing of permits for the removal of the elephants and the presence of an NSPCA representative, virtually rubberstamps the abuses inherent in capturing wild elephants and subjecting them to live in captivity. "Taking elephants from the wild for elephant-riding safari tourism, subjects the animals to entirely unregulated training methods that are open to abuse. No dedicated laws exist in South Africa that govern methods used in training elephants," said Jason Bell-Leask, IFAW Director Southern Africa. "Granting permits that allow the removal of young elephants from their family groups is contrary to the policy of our premier national park, the Kruger National Park, which says it is not appropriate to separate family groups." The six elephants - estimated to be between six and nine years old - were taken from their herd in the Selati Game Reserve, near Phalaborwa in the Limpopo Province on Easter Monday, as a helicopter was used to frighten off the bigger group. Gunshot was reportedly used to scare off a young bull elephant that repeatedly tried to reach the captured youngsters. After capture on April 17, the animals were transported to EFAF's training facility near Tzaneen where they are confined in separate stables in a converted tobacco shed and without any access to natural light. Cattle prods were apparently used to force them from the transport trucks and into the stables. Useful Telephone Numbers: Mr Rob Snaddon, Managing Director of HL Hall & Sons: +27 13 753 5700 About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)
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