South Africa

South Africa, Our Burning Planet, Maverick News, Nelson Mandela Bay

Inside Addo’s elephant translocation and the challenge of fragmented wild spaces

Lifting elephants by their feet while they are sedated is the safest method for both the animal and the team. This technique prevents injury to the elephant’s trunk, head, or internal organs, which could occur if they were lifted in other ways. (Photo: Global Humane Conservation Fund of Africa)

By Julia Evans

22 May 2025

South African National Parks has moved 42 elephants within Addo Elephant National Park as part of efforts to expand their range and restore natural ecological processes.

Kabouga, a three-month-old baby elephant, will spend the rest of his life in the newly secured section of Addo Elephant National Park that he was named after, where his ancestors last lived more than 100 years ago.

He and his family are among 42 elephants translocated last week within Addo Elephant National Park, in the Eastern Cape, as part of ongoing efforts to expand the Addo elephants’ range and restore ecological balance in the conservation area.

Between 12 and 15 May 2025, South African National Parks (SANParks) conservationists, veterinarians, rangers and honorary rangers gathered at Addo’s Main Camp to move five elephant family groups to the park’s Kabouga section, about 50km away by road from Main Camp.

The newly secured Kabouga section of Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape is characterised by rugged mountains and dense Albany Thicket, providing ideal terrain and abundant food resources for the translocated elephants. (Photo: Julia Evans)

Addo is not a single, unbroken park. Rather, it is a mosaic of fragmented sections — Darlington, Kabouga, Zuurberg, Nyathi, Main Camp, Colchester, and Woody Cape — separated by roads, railways, and private land. This fragmentation means wildlife cannot migrate freely, and park managers must take an active role in ensuring ecological balance.

Just as animals have to be rotated between the national parks, they also sometimes have to be translocated to sections of the park they wouldn't otherwise be able to roam across — to ensure genetic diversity and ecological balance.

Read more: Protecting cheetahs, island style — how Eastern Cape park plays vital role in mimicking natural migration

“In southern Africa most of our protected areas are quite small, and a lot of those protected areas are very fragmented — so the animals are no longer able to move across the landscape,” said Dr Dave Zimmermann, SANParks Senior Veterinary Manager.

“It’s always an issue with small fenced-in areas which are fragmented,” he added. “We’ve got to manage those herbivore populations. It’s not really a natural system where the animals can migrate and move across the landscape.”

Historically, elephants moved freely across the Eastern Cape, from Addo to Knysna and beyond, following rainfall and vegetation growth. Today, fences and human development interrupt these natural corridors. The translocation to Kabouga is an effort to mimic the natural dispersal that no longer occurs.

Addo is a conservation success story. By the 1930s, relentless hunting had reduced the local elephant population to just 11 individuals. In 1931, the park was proclaimed as a last resort. Since then, it has grown from 2,000 hectares to nearly 200,000 hectares, and the elephant population has rebounded to more than 850.

Addo Elephant National Park hosts more than 850 elephants, nearing ecological capacity. SANParks manages the population by translocating elephants to other sections of the fragmented park and through a decade-long contraception programme. (Photo: Julia Evans)

A translocated elephant exits a truck into the Kabouga section of Addo Elephant National Park. Due to natural and man-made barriers fragmenting the park, elephants must be moved between sections to restore their range and support ecosystem recovery. (Photo: Global Humane Conservation Fund of Africa)

“Addo has a proud record of elephant conservation and maintains a healthy and secure population of one of Africa’s most iconic species,” says Park Manager Roland Januarie. “Translocation between sections of the park has been successfully carried out over many years to expand their range and restore original ancient elephant corridors.”

While the park hasn’t yet reached its carrying capacity, SANParks is taking a proactive approach.

“As the population continues growing, it is going to affect the park, depending on the size of the park. So there are various tools that we implement,” Zimmermann said.

In addition to translocation, contraception has been used in the park for the past decade to limit population growth, ideally avoiding the need for more drastic measures like culling.

Why move elephants?

Elephants are ecosystem engineers. Their movements open dense thickets, disperse seeds, and create water access points — processes that benefit many other species. But when large populations are confined to small areas, their impact can become unsustainable.

Zimmermann explained that in a natural, unfenced system, elephants would move and their impacts would be spread out. In a confined, fragmented park like Addo, their population must be managed to prevent ecological damage, especially to endangered vegetation types like Albany thicket.

Anban Padayachee, Addo’s conservation manager, started working at the park 23 years ago in the Kabouga section, where he was tasked with rewilding what was once farmland.

“When we first started, it was difficult to see this day 23 years later,” reflected Padayachee. “We were told to clear fences, prepare roads, bury water pipes, and fence off springs. We had to consolidate the land, purchase more, get funding for the fences. It’s a long process.”

Now the newly secured section offers 26,000 hectares of rugged mountains, albany thicket and mountain fynbos, and — prime elephant habitat and fodder.

“The Kabouga section is different from Main Camp — it has high mountains, lots of fresh water. These elephants are going to be so happy,” he said.

A high-stakes operation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8DIV8CqHdU&t=6s&ab_channel=SANParks

Translocation is not just moving animals from point A to B. Planning starts months in advance.

Padayachee explained that they pre-chose areas that were fairly open so that the transportation trucks wouldn’t damage vegetation, and they were easier to block off from tourists. Even so, capturing elephants was complex.

“It was very difficult,” recalls Padayachee. “Even when we had a group in the open and mobilised the choppers, the group started dispersing. We were spread about two to three kilometres apart.”

Stress levels remained high until each elephant was safely transported.

“We only relax once the animal is in the truck, standing and breathing normally, and then again when it’s released and walks off at the offload site,” said Padayachee.

Zimmermann added: “One of the most important factors is to keep the family group as a unit — from the matriarch down to the smallest calf. You want to capture all of them and relocate them together.”

Because of contraception, the family groups were less cohesive than expected.

“They tend to break up a lot quicker,” says Zimmermann. “In areas like Kruger, where they don’t contracept, groups are more cohesive and don’t split up as much.”

Despite the challenges, the team successfully relocated 42 elephants — five family groups, with the largest being two groups of nine. The oldest was a 52-year-old female.

The project was partly funded by the Global Humane Conservation Fund of Africa, an initiative of the Global Humane Society.

Toward mega living landscapes

“I must give credit to some far-sighted people in the early 1990s who had this vision of expanding the park and restoring wildlife across the landscape,” says Padayachee. “Today, SANParks has taken that concept and turned it into Vision 2040.”

Released in 2023, SANParks’ 2040 Vision marks a shift from fortress-style conservation to a more inclusive, community-based approach.

“We’ve heard about the ecological importance of moving megaherbivores into thicket systems,” says Padayachee. “But we must also recognise this isn’t just about animals — it’s a step towards our vision of mega landscapes. These elephants will bring new opportunities to nearby communities.”

Driving from Addo Elephant Park’s Main Camp to the remote Kabouga section, you will go through Nqweba (Kirkwood), the Eastern Cape’s citrus heartland, passing kilometers of citrus orchards that produce 18 million cartons annually and provide seasonal jobs for 1,500 workers.

From 12 to 15 May 2025, a team of conservationists, veterinarians, and logistics specialists translocated elephants within Addo Elephant National Park, paying close attention to animal welfare and ecological impact.(Photo: Global Humane Conservation Fund of Africa)

A SANParks team translocates 42 elephants from Addo’s Main Camp to the newly secured Kabouga section, expanding their range and supporting ecological balance. (Photo: Ester van der Merwe / SANParks)

A SANParks team prepares to dart an elephant for translocation. (Photo: Ester van der Merwe / SANParks)

The Kabouga section of the park, accessible only by 4x4, has rugged terrain and a growing wildlife population — now including elephants, warthogs, eland, and kudu — reintroduced over the years to boost biodiversity. This expansion will ideally grow ecotourism, creating new opportunities and supporting the local economy beyond farming.

Their aim is to create “mega living landscapes” — extensive, interconnected areas that link national parks, community lands, farms and conservation spaces into a single ecological system.

Read more: How SANParks plans to rethink conservation and include those previously marginalised

“With these protected areas fenced in, animals can’t move from one area to another — so we’re mimicking the process of dispersion and immigration,” said Zimmermann.

“Ideally, in future, we’ll connect these areas so animals can move on their own.”

Later this year, fences between Kabouga and the neighbouring Darlington section will be removed, creating a continuous landscape of more than 75,000 hectares — a major step toward restoring natural elephant corridors.

South Africa has several ecological corridor projects under way, including those linking the Tankwa Karoo to Cederberg Wilderness, Camdeboo to Mountain Zebra, Addo to Great Fish River, and the Eden to the Addo corridor.

But as Rhian Berning, the CEO of the Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative explained, it’s a complex, slow process that involves working with willing landowners and getting community buy-in.

“But, when we think of the last and lonely elephant of the Knysna forests — she is a symbol of what happens to species when habitat is fragmented and protected areas are cut off from each other.

“Corridors are critical, not just for megafauna like elephant and rhino, but also for pollinators, plants and all the species in between. Biodiversity and functional ecosystems depend on the free flow of life across landscapes. We can’t see more species face the fate of the last Knysna elephant. So our work continues.” DM

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South Africa

Why move elephants?

A high-stakes operation

Toward mega living landscapes