A new Elephant Express bus is in action in the Okavango Delta bringing an elegant solution to an elephant dilemma.
The Elephant Express – Fast Facts
- 4 buses
- 22 seat capacity in new bus, 14 seat capacity in other three.
- 190 school children transported each day.
- Serving the Eretsha, Beetsha, Gunotsoga, Gudigwa and Seronga communities.
- Operated by Natural Selection, Ecoexist Trust and the Okavango Community Trust.
- Funded by Natural Selection Foundation, Uncharted Africa and Nakwa Safaris
- Launched in 2020.
The Elephant Highway Problem
In parts of the Okavango Delta, locals have seen a localised rise in elephant numbers since 2011 – this rise in numbers goes against the overall conservation trend since the African savanna elephant is listed as endangered by the IUCN. It’s believed that the rise in numbers is caused by the animals moving across from less hospitable areas.
While this provides the photographic tourists at our lodges with memorable sightings and epic encounters, it means something rather different for the local communities. Farmland is left vulnerable to crop-raiding by the elephants and the people themselves are at risk of running into these iconic giants, particularly along routes frequented by both humans and elephants – the so-called ‘elephant highways’. These routes have been used by elephants for generations and allow them to move between dryland water sources and the Okavango Delta.
The Elephant Express
Since 2020 we’ve addressed this quandary by partnering with Ecoexist Trust and the Okavango Community Trust to run a trio of buses along these treacherous stretches, transporting schoolchildren to schools in Eretsha, Beetsha and Gunotsoga, and during the school day, doctors and midwives to clinics in Gudigwa, Seronga, and Beetsha. These award-winning buses – known as the Elephant Express, have proved a great success, with school attendance and academic performance improving year after year as a direct result. Prior to the introduction of the buses, children were forced to walk long distances along these dangerous routes and would arrive at school too tired to learn effectively or encounter an elephant and race back home again.
The Fourth Bus
To build on this, we’ve now added a fourth bus to the Elephant Express fleet, sponsored by Natural Selection, Nakwa Safaris, Ecoexist Trust, Uncharted Africa and Okavango Community Trust, and launched in Beetsha.
This new bus has 22 seats, enabling more children to be transported with each bus run. The exterior is adorned with illustrations of elephants, and within there are educational materials for passengers to read on board. These reading materials are aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence between people and wildlife.
“This novel program has been enabling the coexistence of communities and elephants in remote villages,” notes Dr Jennifer Lalley, our CIO and co-founder. “This new bus will allow us to continue on that journey. Our biggest challenge is the daily wear and tear of the buses on poor roads so maintenance costs are high. A brokendown bus means children don’t go to school so we are always looking to replace older buses. We’ve seen that buses need to be replaced every 5 years.”
In addition to running the buses, we have built 10 weatherproof bus shelters that double as conservation education hubs, sharing messages about living alongside wildlife. In establishing this infrastructure we aim to celebrate rather than villainise the elephants, keeping the communities safe while encouraging them to value their heritage which of course, includes elephants. Many of the communities also recognise the value of elephants in ecotourism which brings funding to the areas.
The outcome of the Elephant Express has been overwhelmingly positive, and we’re delighted to have added a fourth bus, but we’re always striving to make a difference and we’re already working towards the addition of a fifth bus – watch this conservation space!
How To Help
If you feel that you can contribute to our deeply impactful Elephant Express project, please donate through this link https://www.naturalselectionfoundation.org/donate/
- Here’s the difference your contribution might make:
- $350 – Salary: one bus driver’s salary for a month.
- $1,000 – Operation: monthly operating costs for one bus.
- $1,000 – Fuel: monthly fuel for three buses.
- $1,000 – Maintenance: monthly maintenance for three buses.
- $5,375 – Materials: materials to build three fuel tanks for a remote fuelling station.
- $50,400 – Fifth bus: purchase of a new 14 seater bus.
Any support you can offer will help schoolchildren, healthcare workers and clinic patients live more peacefully alongside elephants – an outcome that serves all involved.
