Moving day is nigh for about 1,000 elephants currently living in South Africa's Kruger National Park. Although Kruger is huge -- about the size of Israel -- the current pachyderm population of over 9,000 is putting pressure on the preserve. Faced with the unpalatable option of culling the herd, South African officials opted for a happier solution: relocating more than a tenth of the population to an area of neighboring Mozambique known as Coutada 16, which is in the process of being transformed into a 13,510 square mile game preserve. Because elephants must be moved as family units and not just individuals, officials expect the entire process to take about three years.
Pack Your Trunk
Moving day is nigh for about 1,000 elephants currently living in South Africa's Kruger National Park. Although Kruger is huge -- about the size of Israel -- the current pachyderm population of over 9,000 is putting pressure on the preserve. Faced with the unpalatable option of culling the herd, South African officials opted for a happier solution: relocating more than a tenth of the population to an area of neighboring Mozambique known as Coutada 16, which is in the process of being transformed into a 13,510 square mile game preserve. Because elephants must be moved as family units and not just individuals, officials expect the entire process to take about three years.
