GABORONE, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Elephants have been spotted near villages about 170 km north of Gaborone, the Botswana capital, with authorities urging for vigilance and caution.

A group of elephants were spotted roaming around the Matsheng, or lakeside, villages of Sojwe, Lephepe, Shadishadi, Loologane, and surrounding lands in Kweneng District, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks said in a statement issued Thursday.

Onalenna Mokgachane, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, urged people to "be extra vigilant and exercise extra caution when moving around these areas." She warned the public not to use herding dogs and rifles to scare the elephants or make any form of noise as these will agitate them and prompt them to hurt people.

Authorities did not say what caused the elephants to leave national parks to get near human settlement, but wildlife experts say the move may be a result of the elephants' habitat shrinkage, food shortages, population growth, opportunistic behavior, straying of the herd's leader, or geomagnetic change. Enditem

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