I am a citizen of Knysna and I am going to tell you a story by Jo Lancaster,
My family has lived in Knysna for generations. As a child I would hear stories passed down from my forefathers of days when this place was a paradise, a Garden of Eden; stories of days when we lived peaceful lives - days when my family was free.
I find it hard to imagine such a place now. Maybe an outsider looking in would still see a paradise but not me. All I see is a prison.
Everything started to change for my family once they came - the ones who believed us to be beneath them. To them my kind was nothing but an inconvenience. They too saw this place as a paradise, a paradise that they would take for themselves.
Over the years that followed my family suffered greatly. We were pushed out, forced to live in isolation. Many were killed, some for trying to defend their land, some just for fun.
There was once one that tried to speak out against the wrongs that were being done to us but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
My own father was killed. He had been excluded from the land that he had once called his own. He tried to take back some of what he saw as his and so he was shot.
I stand here now in this place with the few remaining members of my family and I wonder will it ever again be that paradise my forefathers spoke of?
So I ask you, how do you feel when you hear my story? Are you saddened? Are you outraged at the wrongs done to my family?
How about if I told you that I am an elephant of the Knysna forest...do you still care?
I am a citizen of Knysna and this is my story.
For more details on volunteering with elephants visit http://www.edgeofafrica.com/volunteer/project/everything-elephant/
Powerful.
ReplyDeleteI've wondered, Jo. Knysna's forest...how do you bring the elephants back to it, if there are any to bring back? The city looks so commercialized (in comparison to what the land was pre-Knysna) that I wonder if reintroduction of elephants is feasible?
Hi Ibs,
ReplyDeleteYou are right in thinking a re-introduction of elephants to the area would come with complex issues. As you said Knysna is far more populated today than it was 150 years ago. Thus, as with any reintroduction, there would need to be a sound management plan in place which suggests strategies for dealing with any elephant-human conflict. There are also some scientists who suggest that the forest alone actually cannot sustain an elephant population due to a lack of nutrients in the diet which decreases reproductive rates. However there has been an idea put forward to create an ‘Eden to Addo’ corridor which would open up natural migration routes and allow elephant access to a variety of habitats; although, if such a corridor were created one would again have to manage any potential elephant-human conflict.
I am busy with an article on this topic at the moment (thanks for the inspiration) so stand by for a more lengthy answer!
Jo
Everything Elephant Co-ordinator
www.EDGEofAFRICA.com