Elephants We’ll Never Forget In 1919 a Major Pretorius was given
the task to shoot all the remaining elephants in the Addo area
of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. By 1920 only 16 elephants
remained and these were given sanctuary on the land of a farmer
named J.T. Harvey. The elephants were viewed both as a nuisance
and potential profit. Citrus farmers in this region battled them
for water resources. Opportunists saw cash in their tusks.
Initial efforts to fence elephants were unsuccessful and farmers
were aggravated when elephants trampled through in search of
food. But by 1954, thanks in part to improvements in elephant-
proof fencing, the Addo Elephant National Park was thriving.
Elephant population was improving and farmers had their
irrigation and crops intact. Now this national park is roughly
50,000 acres (the 3rd largest national park in SA) and is home
to 450 elephants and a host of other wildlife. From our limited
experience of the place it seems like a beneficial situation for
the wildlife, the env