STATEMENT FROM THE OFFICE OF WILDLIFE PROTOCOL MANAGEMENT

Murchison Falls National Park May 25, 2026

Following the incident of May 23, 2026, in which a vehicle operated by park visitors collided with an adult elephant on the B-7 access road, the Wildlife Coordination Authority has received formal notice of a diplomatic grievance filed by representatives of the Greater Murchison Elephant Collective.

The collision resulted in three fatalities and four injuries among the vehicle’s occupants. The elephant involved in the incident has been classified as a victim of vehicular assault and has retained legal counsel.

In a statement delivered through a series of coordinated trumpet calls and ground vibrations recorded by our seismic monitoring team, the Collective has outlined the following demands: the immediate installation of elephant-priority crossing infrastructure; mandatory speed reduction zones during migration periods; compensation for psychological trauma sustained by the herd; and the establishment of an Elephant-Human Traffic Safety Commission with binding arbitration authority.

The Collective has further indicated that failure to meet these demands by June 15, 2026, will result in what they have termed “asymmetric infrastructure responses,” which our Department of Incident Prevention has interpreted to mean additional vehicle collisions, though we are treating this as a negotiating posture rather than a credible threat.

Our initial assessment suggests that the vehicle in question was operating at approximately 47 kilometers per hour in a zone designated as “High Elephant Presence—Exercise Caution.” The elephant was crossing the road at the time of impact. Preliminary findings indicate that neither party was operating with full situational awareness of the other’s trajectory.

The Collective’s legal representatives have filed a notice of intent to pursue damages under the Wildlife Protection (Reciprocal Duty of Care) Act, 2019, arguing that the park authority failed in its obligation to maintain safe passage for both vehicles and megafauna. They have further argued that the installation of reflective signage—while technically present—did not constitute adequate accommodation of elephant visual acuity thresholds.

Our communications team has been instructed to avoid the use of terms such as “wild animal” or “unpredictable behavior” in future statements, as these have been flagged as inflammatory by the Collective’s media liaison. We will instead adopt the terminology “non-vehicular road user” and “adaptive movement patterns.”

A working group has been established to evaluate the technical feasibility of the Collective’s infrastructure demands. Early modeling suggests that elephant-grade crossing bridges would require a load-bearing capacity of 6,000 kilograms and would need to accommodate a crossing velocity of up to 40 kilometers per hour. Engineering costs are under review.

The four injured parties have been treated and discharged. The three deceased have been classified as “persons in proximity to areas of active wildlife transit.” Their families have been contacted and offered the standard park liability waiver documentation, which they declined to sign, citing the Collective’s assertion that the waiver constitutes an admission of negligence on the part of the park authority.

The elephant involved in the collision has been monitored by veterinary staff and shows no signs of serious injury. It has rejoined the herd and is reportedly in good spirits, though it has been observed trumpeting at higher frequencies than baseline, which our animal behaviorists have attributed to either stress or satisfaction at having forced a policy negotiation with humans—the interpretation remains contested.

We wish to note that this incident does not represent a breakdown in human-elephant coexistence protocols. Rather, it represents an opportunity to strengthen the frameworks through which both parties can engage in productive dialogue. The park authority remains committed to the safety of all visitors and to the recognition of elephant agency as legitimate stakeholders in the governance of shared spaces.

A follow-up statement will be issued on June 1, 2026, or upon receipt of further communication from the Collective, whichever occurs first.

For media inquiries, please contact the Department of Interspecies Relations at [email protected].