Reserve manager, Duane and general manager, Glen, as well as the anti-poaching team and a small number of staff, have been the only people in the reserve while Botswana is under lockdown. On one of their patrols, they had a close encounter with an elephant cow who may have become a bit unhabituated to humans in the past months. Read Glen’s story here:
“Duane and I were on an inspection of our reserve’s waterholes and roads when we came across the elephant breeding herd. I asked Duane to stop and switch off the ignition so that I could take some photos. Whilst waiting for various shots to become available, a cow without tusks suddenly became annoyed by our presence and did a mock charge. What made her aggressive is unknown as she must have heard us approaching, stopping and not moving. We were sitting in absolute silence and had been there less than 5 minutes when she suddenly took exception to our presence. She called off the charge about 5m from our vehicle and then moved off. We stayed there for about another 5 minutes while they all settled down and resumed feeding before moving off. Obviously, the lockdown is having an effect on her as well.”
Photos: Glen Macdonald