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South Africa Lifts Ban on
Killing Elephants to Control Growth Commentary by Mike Di Paola April 24 (Bloomberg) -- South Africa has done such a good job of protecting its elephants that it's now facing a population explosion. On May 1, the government is lifting a 13-year ban on killing them. The government will once again allow the controversial practice known as ``culling,'' discontinued in 1995, as a last resort if other methods of wildlife management fail. What troubles me, though, is that even disagreeable ``last resorts'' like this one have a way of floating to the top of the list. Culling has always been a nasty business. The elephants were herded together by helicopter, then tranquilized with the neuromuscular drug suxamethonium chloride. Animals that did not suffocate to death were shot in the head with a conventional bullet. This time around, if and when the culling resumes, use of the drug is prohibited and culling must be done with ``quick and humane methods,'' according to the government's new regulations. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South Africa's minister of environmental affairs and tourism, announced the culling option last month. He said the elephant population, now at 20,000, is growing about 5 percent a year. ``It was expected that strong emotions would be part of this debate,'' van Schalkwyk noted, correctly. ``There are few other creatures on Earth that have the ability of elephants to `connect' with humans in a very special way.'' Threatened Boycott No sooner had he made the announcement than groups such as Animal Rights Africa threatened to organize a tourism boycott. The B-word has particular resonance in South Africa, where tourism accounts for about 10 percent of its gross domestic product. Tourists come to view wildlife, and it is no accident that environmental affairs and tourism are bundled into one ministry. Surprisingly, conservationist and longtime elephant advocate Richard Leakey supports the decision. Leakey, who has been instrumental in fighting Kenya's illegal ivory trade, was once an ardent opponent of culling. Now, however, writing on the WildlifeDirect Web site (http://wildlifedirect.org), he notes that South Africa ``has come a long way'' since the days when the herds were culled for profit. This is true. South Africa is faced with these harsh decisions for elephants precisely because it has done such a great job of protecting them. Though Leakey still finds culling ``repugnant,'' he says population reduction is an inevitable and necessary evil. Family Groups When culling resumes, entire families or bond groups should be killed, as they were in past culls, Leakey maintains, to minimize the trauma of survivors. Tough love, indeed. The elephants' biggest problem is, of course, us. Our increasing demand for land and resources is squeezing them out. ``Today, most elephants are restricted to clusters of conservation areas, and this fragmented habitat is unnatural and unrealistic for elephant populations,'' says Colleen Cullen of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. ``That is why it is important to broaden range areas, and create `mega-parks' or protected areas that extend across borders.'' Most elephants are in public parks -- about 14,000 in Kruger National Park alone. Others live in isolated pockets of private game preserves. Elephants are filling the available spaces, which make up just under 20 percent of the country's total area. Kruger is already supporting almost double its carrying capacity (7,500). The other strategies the government plans to use before resorting to culling include range manipulation, which means increasing habitat size and accessibility, relocating some elephants and inoculating female elephants with contraceptives. Birth Control ``Our concern is that they will not give serious consideration to these other options,'' says Dr. Andrew Rowan of the Humane Society of the U.S. Rowan has overseen a nine-year study into contraception of South African elephants. His field tests on dozens of elephants at a private game preserve have been near-perfect. Females get a vaccine that immunizes the animal against its own egg, a form of contraception used on horses. Elephants are dosed twice the first year, and then once a year thereafter. Unfortunately this, too, is done by gunmen in helicopters, but at least the animals survive the ordeal. While the cost is a hefty 800 South African rand (about $100) per elephant, the price should go down if the procedure were applied on a larger scale. Rowan reckons that 85 percent of females would have to be injected in order to stabilize the population countrywide. ``We think that even talking about culling when you haven't examined or even tried the other (methods) is absolutely outrageous,'' he says. Agreed. The South African government recognizes that culling these magnificent creatures is the worst of its possible choices. It should make certain, then, that the awful practice is never needed. (Mike Di Paola writes about preservation and the environment for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.) Last Updated: April 24, 2008 00:01 EDT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=acAeaMBWi9nY&refer=muse |
