Kruger officials apologize for unfortunate elephant killing
2013-12-11  
Skukuza - Visitors to the Kruger National Park were left shocked when a park official shot and killed an elephant close to the Phalaborwa gate on Monday.
A photograph of the carcass was circulated on various social media platforms, causing an uproar among wildlife-lovers.
The Kruger National Park confirmed the incident in a statement, saying that the animal had charged traffic officials on duty and had been killed by a ranger to protect them.
They also extended their apologies to the public who had to witness the incident or were exposed to it via photographs on various social media. 
“They had no choice, otherwise they were going to die,” said spokesman for the Kruger National Park William Mabasa. He added that they did not know why the elephant had charged the officials. 
According to reports, a herd of elephants was charging at traffic officers on duty 3 kilometres from the Phalaborwa gate.
The ranger who had been on guard fired warning shots to scare away the animals in which most moved away with the exception of the one elephant which was unfortunately shot dead.  
It is common practice to try and fire warning shots to scare the animal before any other step is taken. In this instance human life was in danger and rangers had to act quickly as the animal could have attacked even more people.

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Elephant cow attacked our car to protect her calf. Very scary.
Filmed in The Kruger National Park, South Africa. This elephant attacked us while filming from my car in Kruger. Be careful when you encounter elephant with their young, they will protect them with their life.