RESCUE PLAN: Stranded giants on the move — rescued baobabs hit 900km road to sanctuary
Five giant baobabs — thirsty, shrunken, but still alive after three months out of the soil — are heading back homeward from the port of Durban after conservationists mounted an urgent and costly rescue operation to shift them to a new sanctuary in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, which straddles the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.
Five enormous baobab trees, once stranded for three months in Durban after being intercepted by conservationists, are now on their way to safety. The trees, deemed 'giant' by conservationists, were rescued in an operation dubbed 'Operation Baobab', part of a costly rescue plan led by Dr Sarah Venter. The trees, stuck in an open parking lot at a shipping warehouse, were rescued just before they were scheduled to be shipped to Georgia.
Venter, an ecologist and founder of the Baobab Foundation, had to raise funds to save the trees after they were denied valid permits and licenses for export. The trees will be transported more than 900km to the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, which straddles Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Once in their new sanctuary, the trees are expected to recover, sprout new leaves, and regenerate.
Dr Venter hopes that this rescue operation will highlight the plight of other endangered tree species.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
