During the COVID pandemic, the WEF team was called to rescue a herd of elephants in a region south of Kruger National Park. The elephants were wandering along the main tar roads, posing a threat to themselves and to drivers on these roads. 

Within 48 hours of receiving the call, the WEF team had mobilized the funding, team, and equipment to capture and translocate the elephants to a safe location. Capture and translocation permits were also obtained in record time, and the mission was initiated.

The herd of six elephants was successfully located, darted, and loaded into custom capture equipment. The elephants were safely translocated to a place of safety in one of the fastest elephant rescue missions ever recorded. A documentary was created about the operation, which has received numerous awards at film festivals throughout the world.

The challenges associated with travel and arranging logistics during the COVID pandemic complicated matters, putting the WEF’s ability to adapt to any capture situation to the test, and the project was successful.