Thuliphants sold to NSPCA

Pretoria - The owner of the remaining five Thuli elephants, Graig Saunders, has sold them in a surprise move to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (NSPCA). 

This decision comes after the Brits Magistrate's Court in two days awarded guardianship of the animals to three different parties. 

Marcelle French, the NPSCA's executive director, confirmed that the animals had been sold for R750 000, the original amount Saunders paid for them. 

French said the NSPCA was not paying for the elephants and that an anonymous South African donor had supplied the money. 

"If all goes according to plan, the animals will be relocated to the Marakele Nature Reserve in the Northern Province before Christmas," she said. 

Nine Tuli elephants were moved to Marakele about four months ago, but one of them died at the park. A spokesman for the South African National Parks said the animal had died of natural causes. "When the elephant's carcass was found in the park, it was already too late to determine the cause of death." 

On Wednesday, Saunders said it was a sad day for him to part with the elephants. He said the animals' welfare should be the most important issue and the decision by all stakeholders to sell the elephants, was the best option. 

Saunders was reluctant to express an opinion on the desirability of moving the elephants to Marakele. "Nobody can give the assurance that these animals, which survived so much trauma and which are used to people, will be able to survive in the wild." Saunders said he had not let go of his dream to build an elephant-training park near Brits. 

French said: "Saunders will probably buy other elephants which have not been trained from Ricardo Ghiazza. The elephants will probably come from Ghiazza's ground in the Tosca area near the Tuli block in Botswana." 

Ghiazza was accused of allowing trainers in his employ to mistreat the elephants in his care. 

French said the NPSCA had given Saunders written notification that the society was "still against keeping wild animals in captivity". 

The decision to sell the animals was an emergency measure after the guardianship of the elephants became a contentious issue in the Brits Magistrate's Court. The application to lift the NSPCA's guardianship was taken on Wednesday by Magistrate K. Smit. This comes after Grow, a Section 21 company, laid a charge of animal abuse against the NSPCA.  

The guardianship was given to Grow and the Animal Anti-Cruelty League but was then given back to the NSPCA. Smit took the decision after the NSPCA contended that an application for a revision by Ghiazza in the High Court had not yet been completed.  

Smit, who has not handled the case before, was not aware of the application for a revision, and again awarded the guardianship to the NSPCA.