In early December a young elephant bull was reported in the Phalaborwa mining area with a snare around it's leg. This particular herd spends time on the periphery of Phalaborwa mine, moving between the mine and Selati River. The Phalaborwa Heritage Foundation moved into the area to try relocate the herd and elephant. They managed to spot the herd, but with the incredibly thick vegetation in the area, it was difficult to confirm 100% if the elephant bull with the snare was among them. It was decided to move in with the helicopter and wildlife vet, to try and locate the bull from the air.

Luckily, the helicopter was able to locate the bull from the air, and the vet darted the elephant from above. Once sedated, the ground team moved in and the terrible cable snare was cut from the elephants leg. The vet applied antibiotics & disinfectant before waking the bull up. It is expected that he will make a full recovery.

Wild Wonderful World donated the helicopter time for this operation to enable the bull to be located and treated as quickly as possible. 1.4 hours were donated, with thanks to our Wild Wonderful World donors.

If you would like to support operations like this in future, please consider donating to our Rapid Response Fund or Heli Hours fund to enable us to continue supporting emergency operations such as this.

A big well done and thank you to WildScapes Wildlife Vet Dr Ben Muller, Hope for Wildlife heli Pilot Jana, Elephants Alive researchers and Phalaborwa Heritage Foundation.