Elephant Management Plans in South Africa

Beauty Without Cruelty expresses grave concerns about recently announced elephant management plans in South Africa.

Yesterday’s announcement by South Africa’s Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk, has raised grave concerns for the animal rights organisation Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC).

While remaining optimistic about Minister van Schalkwyk’s declaration that no further capture of wild elephants would be allowed for commercial purposes, including the export of any animals, and that monitoring of training methods would be undertaken, BWC questions how and by whom this monitoring will take place and what control the Department will be able to exert over the continued breeding of captive elephants.

An outright ban on any further animals being allowed to enter the system by capture or breeding, would have been applauded.

However, the greatest concern has been reserved for the DEAT’s inclusion of culling as part of its ‘basket of options’ for the control of elephant populations. Pronouncing on the publication of the final Norms and Standards for Elephant Management, the Minister stated that “culling may be undertaken only in terms of a culling plan prepared by the responsible person with the assistance of an ecologist who is a recognised elephant management specialist and approved by the relevant issuing authority that sets out the conditions under which culling would take place and the manner in which the cull would be implemented”.

This opens the door to culling being used not as “the option of last resort” but as a lucrative option that will supply elephant parts to commercial interests. Decisions to kill elephants will presumably be taken without informing the public and other concerned bodies and will therefore only be announced, if at all, after the event. This despite the fact that SANParks belong to the people of South Africa and are largely run with taxpayers’ money.

In the light of our above concerns, Beauty Without Cruelty has no option but to join like-minded organisations in lobbying for a tourism ban on visiting South African parks until the threat of elephant culling has been removed by the Minister.

February 26th, 2008