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Namibia: Man Killed By Elephant
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Oswald Shivute
Windhoek
A MAN was killed by an elephant during a standoff between a herd of elephants and villagers at Omuntele in the North on Thursday.
Thirteen elephants, including three calves, escaped from the Etosha National Park.
They trampled crops and mahangu fields, and villagers tried to chase them back to Etosha, shooting into the air with their rifles.
One elephant was wounded by a bullet fired by a villager.
But this did not deter the elephants, which then stormed at the people.
The villagers tried to run away, but two people collided with each other and one fell to the ground.
One of the elephants trampled the villager to death.
Nature conservation officers who were called by the villagers intervened.
In a standoff between the officers and the elephants, the officers shot dead a elephant and managed to control the tense situation.
The officers then managed chase the elephants back into the bush towards Etosha.
Police Deputy Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa identified the deceased as Erikson Nanguka (58).
Kashihakumwa blamed the villagers for not having informed the Police in time and instead trying on their own to chase the elephants away.
"I called on the villagers to always immediately report these kind of incidents to the Police first and not to act on their own," Kashihakumwa said.
However, some villagers claim that Councillor Sacky Nangula called the Okatope Police immediately when the elephants arrived at the village, but the Police said they did not have a car.
Deputy Commissioner Kashihakumwa said the Police had also received reports from Ombwata village in the Omusati Region that three elephants that had escaped from Etosha were destroying crops there.
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He said he had sent Police officers to investigate the reports with the help of officers of the Directorate of Parks and Wildlife Management.
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