A 76-year-old man of Nxauxau village in Okavango District was recently killed by an elephant while looking for his cattle in Xwerekae cattlepost.
According to Gumare Police Station Commander, Chenamo Orateng, the man was with three other men when an angry elephant charged at them and trampled him to death.
“They were looking for the cattle and each one of them was on horseback. Suddenly, an elephant charged towards them, scarring off the horses, which then took off,” explained Orateng.
Unfortunately for the 76-year-old man, he lost balance and fell off the speeding horse. The elephant, which was on hot pursuit, is said to have caught up with him as the horse fled and trampled the man to death.
“His companions escaped and raised the alarm,” added Orateng.
The incident is said to have taken place around 1100hrs in the morning of April 28th, 2024 but was reported to the police in the late afternoon – 1730hrs of the same day.
“The police went to the scene an he was rushed to Gumare Primary hospital where he was certified dead upon arrival,” further explained Orateng who maintains this was the first elephant incident in his policing area this year.
“Animal attacks are common in our area because there are of a lot of roaming animals in the surrounding bushes, so it is important for people to be alert at all times when travelling around this area, whether by foot or any mode of transport because animals can hide behind trees at any time of the day and equally they are very unpredictable, so people have to be very cautious,” advised Orateng.