Pilanesburg

An image taken in the Pilanesburg National Park located about 3 hours north west of Johannesburg.  It was fascinating to see this group of elephants gather together with their young ones shepherded into the middle of the group before rushing across the road rather like humans might do in traffic.

Pilanesburg is a relatively new game park having been established during the 1980s as part of the former Bophuthatswana region.  At the time, it involved the biggest game relocation in history with 6,000 animals being moved into the new sanctuary. The area has seen human relocations too, mostly involuntary:  the land was originally occupied by the Tswana (named after Tswana chief Pilane), who were driven out by the Ndebele in the early 19th century (fleeing the Zulu king before settling in Zimbabwe), who in turn were driven out by European settlers who then occupied the land circa 1860.  The land was eventually returned to the Tswana during the 1960s.