Link to report:
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/afesg/tools/omiloaeen.html

IUCN advises African states how to manage wild elephant populations Written by Henry Neondo Thursday, 03 April 2008

“Some of the most important decisions in wildlife management in Africa revolve around elephants, but a lot of the information is not readily accessible to conservation authorities. Much of it is scattered in diverse reports and scientific papers or as part of the body of unwritten expert knowledge,” Holly Dublin, Chair of IUCN’s African Elephant Specialist Group and the Species Survival Commission says in a recent report.

Until now, there has been no comprehensive review available to African elephant-range states explaining the options for managing wild populations of elephants.

This report looks at past examples of what has worked, what hasn’t, and provides a summary of the main technical considerations.

Some of the most important decisions in wildlife management in Africa revolve around elephants. Where elephant densities increase locally –be it through population growth with limited opportunity for natural dispersal or through range compression– the impact of elephants on their habitats and other species may also increase.

Depending on local values and/or the land-use objectives, this impact is often seen as undesirable.

There is increasing alarm, especially across the southern African subregion, over the adverse local effect of increasing densities of elephants.

This local overpopulation or overabundance of elephants is today regarded as a major conservation and management challenge in most southern African elephant range States.

Concerns over the adverse ecological effect of high densities of elephants have also been reported elsewhere in Africa, especially in areas known for their high plant biodiversity.

Methods such as culling, translocation, range expansion, manipulation of water sources, and contraception are options that have been used or proposed to reduce elephant numbers or densities.

There is no unique density of elephants that can serve as a definition of ‘overabundance’ for anyparticular area. It depends instead on whether the impact that elephants have on their environmentis acceptable.

The relationship between elephant density and the ecological impact of elephantsis complex and variable, and our understanding of these processes is still developing.

Decisions as to whether to intervene to reduce elephant densities therefore have to be made with less than perfect scientific knowledge.

When faced with such uncertainty, the precautionary principle is often advocated. This management principle states: when there are threats of serious or irreversible damageto the environment the lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponingcost-effective measures to prevent such damage (United Nations 1992).

Information about attempts to control wild populations of elephants is generally not readily accessible to the relevant managers and conservation authorities in Africa, much of it being scattered in diverse reports and scientific papers or as part of the body of unwritten expert knowledge.

The main objective of this document is to make available lessons learned from the past and from ongoing efforts to manage the negative ecological impact of African elephants, and to provide a summary of the main technical considerations and pros and cons of the different management options available.

The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the world’s largest terrestrial mammal. It is a species of considerable economic, ecological, cultural and aesthetic value to many people.The elephant is a flagship species, providing a focus for raising awareness and stimulating action and funding for broader conservation efforts.

There are many widely distributed populations of elephants in Africa.
These range in size from fewer than 50 to more than 100,000 and experience varying levels of cohesion or isolation.

The dynamics of these populations also vary, with some declining and others experiencing an increase in numbers.

Overall, southern Africa’s populations grew significantly from 1994 to 2002. Where elephant populations are growing through natural recruitment or compression caused by expanding use of the surrounding landscape by humans, and where there is limited opportunity for natural dispersal or concomitant range expansion, local elephant densities commonly increase.

Where this is happening, the impact of elephants on their habitats and other species may also increase. Depending on local values (cultural, aesthetic or other) and/or the land-use objectives (e.g. tourism, biodiversity conservation, agriculture) that have been established for the area concerned, increasing elephant impact has been seen as deleterious or undesirable, leading to concerns about local overabundance of elephants.

Methods such as culling, translocation, range expansion, manipulation of water sources, and contraception are options that have been used or proposed to reduce elephant numbers or densities.

Information about attempts to control wild populations of elephants is generally not readily accessible to the relevant managers and conservation authorities in Africa, much of it being scattered in diverse reports and scientific papers or as part of the body of unwritten expert knowledge.

For more on the report, visit:
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/afesg/tools/omiloaeen.html

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 April 2008 )

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