THEFT of solar panels from a water point for elephants in the Etosha National Park has forced a small herd to search for water among human settlements in the past few days and one of them killed a person near Ruacana on Wednesday night.

Joseph Hamukwaya, a resident of Oshifo near Ruacana, was apparently on his way home when he was killed by the elephant, Ruacana Councillor Lazarus Kornelius told The Namibian yesterday.

Kornelius said nature conservation officials killed the elephant.

In a ministerial statement in Parliament yesterday, Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said: "I must point out however that circumstances forced the elephants to leave their area in search for water as five months ago solar panels at a water point for them were stolen.

"Our Ministry replaced the panels less than a month ago, but they were stolen again, forcing the elephants to search for water elsewhere.

"Another issue is that many people have not seen elephants before and are attracted by them. Our officials reported that a group of about 30 people surrounded the elephants looking at them. People must stay away from wild animals, especially elephants, and not disturb them and neither destroy the infrastructure set up for them," Ndaitwah appealed.

A group of seven elephants searched for water in the Onesi and Ruacana constituencies on Tuesday.

The regional councillor for the Onesi Constituency, Fillemon Jatileni, told Nampa news agency that "the elephants were not aggressive at the time they moved here, and we believe they are looking for drinking water in the area. Therefore, I am calling on community members not to provoke them".

According to Jatileni, three of the elephants arrived at the Etunda irrigation project near Ruacana, where they were seen eating pumpkins on Wednesday afternoon, Nampa reported.