THE CITIZEN SUNDAY August 4,
2013
By Anthony
Mayunga and Syriacus Buguzi The Citizen Reporters
In Summary
In Summary
The
bizarre incident occurred at Nyabikwabe area in Natta ward on Thursday evening
and has compelled conservationists and game experts to scratch their heads
hard, in attempts to find appropriate answers to the killing.
Serengeti/Dar
es Salaam. In what has puzzled game officers and authorities, an elephant
reportedly killed one of two heavily protected rhinos at Makunduzi village in a
reserve run by Singita Grumeti Fund.
The
bizarre incident occurred at Nyabikwabe area in Natta ward on Thursday evening
and has compelled conservationists and game experts to scratch their heads
hard, in attempts to find appropriate answers to the killing.
The
incident was confirmed by both the wildlife director, Prof Alexander Songorwa
and the management of Singita Grumeti reserve.
Prof
Songorwa said the rhino called Limpopo, was one of the two remaining out of the
five brought to the reserve from South Africa in 2007. The animals were
famously referred to as ‘Kikwete Rhinos’ in recognition to efforts by President
Jakaya Kikwete to have the rare white Rhinos bred in the country.
President
Kikwete personally received the huge animals that are among major tourist
attractions when they were first flown in from South Africa. Three of them
vanished in circumstances that include killings by brazen poachers. The
President ordered a manhunt for the perpetrators, in the wake of which one
Thomas Nchagwa was arrested and arraigned in court in 2010.
He was
charged under economic sabotage laws, but the suspect and those who had bailed
him subsequently disappeared.
The rhino
killed on Thursday was male and the youngest. “It was aged 11 when it met its
sudden demise,” said Prof Songorwa.
He said
the rhino, which was well protected in a fenced enclosure, was furious when it
spotted the elephant that had entered its habitat by tearing through the fence.
“It
charged at the elephant to chase it out, igniting what looked like a furious
fight between the two animals. They fought for some time before the rhino was
overpowered and lost the fight,” he explained.
He said
one of the elephant tusks pierced the rhino’s underbelly while the second one
sank deep into the rhino’s hump, killing it instantly. “It has taught us a big
lesson,” he said, noting that poaching was the only threat to such rare animals
until that fateful day.
In
reaction to inquiries by The Citizen on Sunday on the security of the animals
in the reserves, Prof Songorwa explained that the incident happened so suddenly
that it was not easy for the wardens to intervene during the fight.
He said
no one expected that the elephant could trespass into the rhino’s enclosure at
that time. It is reported that the fighting occurred in the twilight hours and
the wardens’ attention was drawn when the rhino was already dead.
He said following the death of the male rhino, efforts were underway to find
a replacement since the rhinos customarily live in pairs.The management of the company declined to comment but game warders confessed that intrusion by elephants into the area had never occurred previously.
Rare phenomenon
In a separate interview, an expert in tourism management said such incidences usually happen but the cases were very rare.
‘’Fighting usually occurs when the animals struggle to win feeding grounds. Both the elephant and rhino are browsers; they feed on green leaves on top of trees. This leaves a competing ground for them,’’ said Mr Asantael Melita, Ngorongoro’s principal tourism officer.
Mr Malita explained that one animal was likely to kill on its rival, depending on which one is older or bigger in size, but swiftly pointed out that such behaviour was usually abnormal amongst the animals.
‘’An elephant can knock a rhino over and trample it by driving a tusk through its chest. If the elephant is older, it’s likely to kill the rhino,’’ he further explained.
