The Voice (Francistown)
Francinah Baaitse
22 April 2008
Francistown — In a dramatic twist to the lead story The Voice carried last week, the Police investigators have revealed that the half bottom of one of the victims of the Mokolodi elephants was missing.
Last Tuesday, we reported the tragic deaths of two Sri Lankan handlers, killed in the line of duty by either one or all the four elephants they took care of at Mokolodi Nature Reserve.
The Voice leant this week that after a thorough search by both the police and the park's employees, it was concluded that the hyenas or other wild animals must have eaten body parts of one of the dead handlers. The search for the missing body parts was conducted Thursday after the rampaging elephants interrupted the Wednesday inspections. The police hurriedly left the scene with one body and only the upper part of the other corpse when it was reported that the four unsettled elephants were returning to the scene of the incident.
This week, it was reported that one male elephant, Shaka, had been killed. But confusing is why one elephant was singled out to be destroyed as the Police insisted that their investigations had not revealed which one of the four elephants had actually killed the handlers. According to assistant superintendent Balibadzi Boy, management of the Park figured that the oddly behaving male, which even refused to go back to the barn, was the culprit. It was the only male within a herd of four. He said the remaining three females are calm and back at the barn.
A press release from the Serendib elephant project and Mokolodi Nature Reserve stated that they killed Shaka at the instruction of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Boy also stated that there is no hope on establishing the cause of the attack as there were no other witnesses apart from the dead handlers - Chandana Alahakoon and Piyal Pedige.
Experts on elephant behaviour say little things such as boredom can lead to social tension, aggression and abnormal behaviour in elephants. It is said this can easily be recognized, as the animal would start weaving, that is, it stays in one place while slowly moving its head from side to side.
A funeral service for Alahakoon and Pedige would be held this Sunday at the Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center in Gaborone North.
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