They are legendary for their elusiveness, but after four days of solid tracking through dense, indigenous forest, a film crew has captured four minutes of rare footage of a Knysna forest elephant

Inset: SANParks officials hope the new video footage of the elusive Knysna forest elephants will help solve the question of how many animals remain. Picture: Hylton Herd

Film-makers Mark van Viwijk and Lianne Slegh, together with experienced trackers Karel Maswatie and Wilfred Oraai, shot the video on May 15, which will form part of a one-hour documentary.

The footage could shed light on the number of remaining Knysna forest elephants.

After studying photographs taken in recent years, staff at SANParks are convinced that only one of these elusive giants remains. They drew this conclusion by studying the ragged edge at the exterior of the elephant‘s ears and comparing the pattern to that on the other photographs.

SANParks official Hylton Herd, who has spent years studying the elephants, said he was eager to receive a copy of the video from the film-makers to do a comparison of the ear “fingerprint”.

However, DNA tests on elephant dung found in the forest indicate that at least five elephants inhabit the area, according to environmentalist Gareth Patterson.

In the 1800s, it was thought that several hundred forest elephants lived in Knysna, but by 1908 the number had dwindled to between 20 and 30 due to their slaughter by ivory hunters.

Van Viwijk, an independent film- maker, met Patterson in 2001 and then contacted Herd before the film was commissioned by production company Natural History Unit Africa. The company joined forces with e.tv, focusing on natural history and wildlife filming, at the end of last year.

Slegh, who works for Natural History Unit Africa, said the film would be shown in South Africa and hopefully worldwide.

Van Viwijk said: “The trackers, Karel and Wilfred, are incredible the way they follow the spoor. They are the unsung heroes – they love the elephants and know more than anyone else. There is no spoor as such, they can somehow see the direction it is moving in from brush marks on leaves and branches and things. They are really amazing.”

Before the tracking, the film-makers set up a stationary camera in a waterproof box at a site recommended by Klaas Havenga, forest estate manager for SANParks at Diepwalle.

It turned out to be right in the path of an elephant, which tusked a hole in the box, broke the ropes and latches securing it and tossed the box five metres away. It also pushed the tree the camera was secured to into the river. The camera survived without even a scratch.

By Katherine Wilkinson

www.theherald.co.za