Ezemvelo renews appeal for elephant translocation space

By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife has renewed its appeal to local, national and international reserves to provide space for the translocation of overabundant elephants from its protected areas.

The provincial conservation body said Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, Tembe Elephant Park, Ithala Game Reserve and Umkhuze Game Reserve all have more elephants than their estimated carrying capacities, despite long-term contraception measures and efforts to expand protected areas.

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It said its reserves are all smaller than 100,000 hectares and are surrounded by dense human settlements, limiting its ability to rely on natural ecological processes to absorb elephant impact.

Ezemvelo said there were an estimated 2,862 elephants across 22 properties in KwaZulu-Natal as of 31 March 2026, with 2,089 of them in Ezemvelo-managed protected areas. It added that the majority of the 17 private and communal reserves with elephants are close to or