Elephant killed by bakkie

■ Joe Dreyer

A young elephant bull was killed on the Ribbervale road near Gravelotte sometime in the early evening on Wednesday the 22nd of March. According to witnesses at the scene a bakkie was travelling toward Gravelotte when it struck the animal which was crossing the road. The driver of the bakkie and a passenger sustained minor injuries, the vehicle was a complete write off and the animal was killed by the impact.

“It is not clear whether the driver was speeding at the time of the accident, but elephants are notoriously difficult to see at night,” said an emergency services member. “I have had near misses with these guys so many times at night that I have lost count. Those big bodies are impossible to spot after dark.”

At the time of going to print it was not made clear how the animal’s carcass was disposed of, but authorities cleared the scene soon after the accident.