Namibia’s tourism minister has issued a formal warning to visitors to take greater care in game parks after elephants killed four people in six weeks. Cautioning visitors to the Caprivi region, in the northeast, and Kunene, in the northwest, not to move around at night, Willem Konjore said that tourists should “avoid disturbing elephants in any way”.

Ten so-called problem elephants out of Namibia’s population of 23,000 have been killed this year, and officials are seeking higher hunting quotas for those straying outside reserves.

Dozens of people, including four British tourists, have been killed by elephants across southern Africa since 2000, and the veteran Namibian bush guide Jockel Gruettemeyer blames increasing elephant aggression on three factors: “First, there’s the drought, which forces elephant populations to come closer to villages and camps in search of water. Then there’s the increased encroachment on the elephants’ traditional territories by domestic stock and their herdsmen, thus disrupting migration routes. Worst, though, are self-drive, unguided tourists who do not know how to behave around elephants.”

He cites the case of an elephant attack on a 4WD last month in the Caprivi strip. “This big old bull was drinking on the Kwando River, but he wasn’t active enough for these tourists. So they started revving their engines, blowing the horn and banging the doors to attract his attention. Result? He charged them. Next time he sees a 4WD, he’ll charge that, too, because these boys don’t forget.”

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