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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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MONTH: June 2006
Tuli elephant case reprised
Eight years after video of the capture and holding conditions endured by 30 baby elephants became the globally notorious “Tuli elephants” case, a similar incident occurred in April 2006 at the Selati Game Reserve in Limpopo state, South Africa, Michele Pickover of Xwe African Wild Life told ANIMAL PEOPLE.
“Six young elephants were cruelly separated from their families for use by the elephant-back safari industry,” Pick-over wrote. “Helicopters, guns, and electric prods were used. The young elephants went to Howard Blight’s Elephants for Africa Forever in Mooketsi, near Duiwelskloof.
“On the EFAF website, Blight claims that, ‘Animal welfare is the most critical issue,’” Pickover noted, “but this kind of capture has nothing to do with animal welfare and certainly shows no respect for elephant family structures.”
The Pretoria High Court on March 27, 2006 heard an appeal by Richard Ghiazza, who imported the Tuli elephants from Botswana to South Africa. Ghiazza contends he was not responsible for actions of staff that he never saw. Ghiazza and former employee Wayne Stockigt were fined and given six-month suspended jail sentences in 2003.