Craig Saunders gets 5 Tuli Elephants from Riccardo Giazza

18 January 2000

In spite of a pending court case against Craig Saunders for animal abuse, 5 of the 9 Tuli elephant, belonging to Riccardo Giazza, were moved from Sandhurst Hunting lodge in the North West Province to Saunders' intended "Education Park".

A "temporary permit" for their removal and relocation to Saunders' facility was issued by the North West Province. It is claimed that Saunders' "business plan" states "no planned training" for these elephants.

This move raises a few very serious concerns:

What effect will this move have on elephants that are now almost a year older and have been roaming free at Sandhurst since early 1999?

Saunders stated that his facility was an "education park" with close contact with the elephants. How safe will these semi-wild elephants be? If they were in fact left to roam free in the wild at Sandhurst, one would imagine that they can now be regarded as "wild". Will they pose a danger to the public? 

An even more sinister thought: What happened to the Mahouts? They have not been prosecuted and nothing has been reported on their whereabouts. Is it possible that they were secretly training the elephants at Sandhurst??

In the event of the "temporary permit" being withdrawn, does that mean these poor animals will AGAIN be subjected to a capture and relocation operation? Why not just release them into the wild at Marakele with their long lost friends?

What has (again) happened to justice? How could anyone issue a permit, temporary or not, to move animals to the facility of a person accused of animal abuse??

Taking into account the very real danger that these young (wild) elephants pose, will you take your family to visit them at Saunders' education park??