Zambia World Wide

My opinion

With the second elephant I shot, something I noticed convinced me that the locals were on the right track. A large teardrop was lying on the cheek of the elephant. The impact this had on me was bigger than I ever could visualize. My guilt feeling increased with each animal I shot after seeing that tear drop. To me that tear drop was a clear indication that animals have feelings just like us. Today if I hear countries requesting permission to start trading in ivory again I know what my decision would be if it was up to me.

The first elephant I shot

In 1970 the elephants in Kasane became a threat to the locals. The locals could no longer protect their crops and their lives were often threatened by the elephants. Barricades erected were simply flattened. The District Commissioner Kingsley Sibele, after investigating numerous complaints decided that some action was necessary. He requested Mike Slowgrove the local Game Warden to issue eight hunting permits in Kasane. I was one of the eight. The elephant that I hunted had actually broken into the enclosure of a local resident no more than a kilometer from the Chobe Safari Lodge. With me was Pat Carr-Hartley and the first thing he told me was that you must never show an animal that you are scared. Running away was not an option as all animals will outrun you.

In my defense I must also mention that no part of the elephants I ever shot was wasted. A Chief just outside Kasane always knew where and when I was going to hunt an elephant. Hours after shooting an elephant some of his tribe members would arrive on the scene. Some would arrive on foot, others on a bicycle which they must have pushed most of the way and then there were those on donkeys. Knowing that these people have come some 40 kilometers and spent the night under the stars just hoping that the next day they will hear a gun shot that will bring them something to eat made me feel that in a way I have done some good. They would enter the elephant’s stomach while standing ankle deep in its faeces just to get some of the stomach fat. You had a battle to keep them away from the elephant until they had recovered parts of the skin, the feet, tail hairs and tusks for yourself.

I could only pity them as I watched them disappear into the bush not knowing how they could possibly make it back as some seemed to buckle under the weight of the meat.

The first encounter

My first close encounter with elephants was while game watching in the Kasane National Park. We came across this large herd of elephants and Pauline wanted to film them close up. . With us were some of my labourers and a driver. Pauline and I joined the labourers on the back of the truck. I noticed that the elephants were getting restless but Pauline wanted to continue filming. Suddenly all hell broke loose and the elephants started with their mock charges. After several mock charges there was so much dust that our visibility was limited. Panic started to set in. One of labourer’s put a spade over his head and told us that he didn’t want to see how he would die. To crown it all the driver joined us on the back of the truck. It was then that I remembered the words of Pat Carr-Hartley and I quote. “Don’t ever show an animal that you are afraid”. With this I immediately got behind the wheel and started moving forward. At intervals I would depress the clutch and rev the engine as I was told never to blow the hooter at charging elephants. The elephants kept on with their charging but at least I was making some progress. It seemed endless and my courage was fading when I spotted an opening. Without hesitation I went for it and once I was far enough away I stopped. I opened the door, determined not to show how scared I really was and had every intention of teasing both the driver and the guy with the spade over his head. The tables were soon turned. As I put my foot on the running board a pheasant lying in the grass next to the vehicle flew up. I got such a fright and before you could say Jack Robinson I was trying to climb out the passenger side window and so was Dozen Chawalani the passenger. We were all in such a state of shock that for hours after the incident, we would for no reason burst out laughing.