From crisis to calm as four elephants embrace new life after Olifantskop Pass incident

6 Mar 2025

The four elephants that were on a truck that overturned on the Olifantskop Pass in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday arrived safely at their destination at Samara Karoo Reserve early on Thursday morning. The reserve responded to misinformation spread by the NSPCA, clarifying that it did not allow hunting.

The four elephants that were in a truck that overturned on the Olifantskop Pass in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday, 5 March 2025, were seen happily exploring the riverbank of their new home on Thursday and showed no signs of injury or distress.

Video footage taken last night shows the four elephants led by the matriarch, who has been collared for tracking purposes, quietly walking off into the night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AknJw_i5Qgw&ab_channel=DailyMaverickStudios

The four were donated to Samara Game Reserve by Sanparks as part of a greater plan to resettle elephants in the Camdeboo.

“Samara Karoo Reserve is a conservation undertaking started in 1997 to rewild the Great Karoo landscape into a born-again wilderness home to all historically occurring species, including elephants. We are committed to biodiversity conservation and land restoration funded by photographic tourism,” the reserve said in a statement.

Fake claims were made on social media by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) that there was hunting at Samara Game Reserve. Despite attempts to obtain further information from the NSPCA, none of Daily Maverick’s questions were answered. The organisation only posted a claim that they had “searched” for it on the internet.

Providing sanctuary

This translocation forms part of broader elephant conservation measures within South Africa to expand the habitat available for elephants to thrive.

“As one of the Eastern Cape’s largest private reserves, and having worked closely with expert ecologists and zoologists for 27 years, Samara Karoo Reserve is well positioned to offer a sanctuary to these gentle giants,” the reserve said in a statement on Thursday morning.

SANParks spokesperson Fayroush Ludick confirmed they had received the happy news that the elephants were doing well.

“The donation is part of a long-term strategy towards elephant management, which includes range expansion and improving genetic diversity,” Ludick said.

Samara’s statement continued that they were very thankful for game reserves close to the accident site that assisted with food and water for the teams, and sent equipment to help with the elephants.

“The professional wildlife translocation team, veterinary team, release team and Samara team were on site to monitor the elephants and ensure their safety throughout the incident. The vet confirmed that the elephants were not wounded in the accident, and they walked off the truck into the reserve with no visible signs of distress or injuries.

“The elephants will continue to be closely monitored in the coming days and weeks to ensure their health and wellbeing as they settle into their new home,” the statement added.

Sarah Tompkins, co-founder of Samara Karoo Reserve, said they were very grateful that the four elephants were safe.

“We are incredibly thankful that the elephants are safe, and that after many months of planning there are now four more elephants roaming the Samara landscape.

“Samara would like to thank all those involved in the translocation and who assisted with the unfortunate accident, including SANParks officials and the Conservation Solutions translocation team, whose professionalism and deep care for their work was truly evident.

“The safety and wellbeing of the truck drivers and the elephants was the team’s number one priority throughout the incident. We were humbled by the way in which nearby reserves rose to our assistance, lending additional equipment to ensure the elephants’ wellbeing, donating water and food to the team and assisting with organising logistics.

“The camaraderie of the conservation community is unmatched. We would also like to thank the public for their heartening messages of support and those affected by the road closure for their patience.”

Read more: Truck transporting four elephants overturns on Olifantskop Pass in Eastern Cape

The Olifantskop Pass remained closed for most of Wednesday as authorities worked on a plan to transport the elephants to the reserve, which is near Graaff-Reinet. Unathi Binqose from the Eastern Cape Department of Transport said one lane of the pass was opened at 10.10pm, and both lanes were open after 2am.

In October 2017, after an absence of elephants in the Karoo for 150 years, six female elephants were released into the Samara Karoo Reserve. In November 2018, they were joined by two bulls from the Phinda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. Elephants were also resettled in other Karoo reserves as part of the plan to have these animals return to the plains of the Camdeboo. DM

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Providing sanctuary