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 already above preferred population levels.
Translocation would be pursued only if suitable reserves could be found, while no decision had yet been taken on culling, although it said that option may become necessary in the near future.
Ezemvelo cited the situation in Madikwe Game Reserve as a warning, saying elephant overpopulation there had led to significant vegetation destruction and the lingering deaths from starvation of more than 70 elephants. It said it was determined to act before a similar crisis unfolded in KwaZulu-Natal.
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It said failing to manage elephant numbers would heighten the risk of human-wildlife conflict, disease transmission, ecological collapse and animal suffering, particularly as climate change intensifies drought conditions.
It said unchecked pressure on fences increases the risk of elephants escaping, while higher animal densities threaten vulnerable vegetation, important nesting trees and other species dependent on the same ecosystems.
Ezemvelo said live removal remained its preferred option, but that after two decades of searching, suitable new homes for elephants were critically scarce. It said competition for available space was intense and that, as far as it was aware, there were currently no properties within ethical translocation distance from KwaZulu-Natal reserves ready to accept elephants.
It said contraception alone could not solve the problem because, while it helps slow growth, it does not reverse existing population pressure and cannot be used to drive growth to zero without undermining stable herd structures.
The organisation called on NGOs and other conservation stakeholders to come forward urgently with viable and ethical options for range expansion and translocation. It warned that if non-lethal alternatives proved impractical, it could be compelled to resort to lethal measures to protect the broader ecosystem.
