TravelHub (www.travelhub.co.za) - THE capture of wild elephants for use in the elephant-back safari industry, or for use in any other commercial exhibition facilities, will be prohibited from May 1, 2008. This was announced by minister of environmental affairs and tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, at the launch of the Final Norms and Standards for Elephant Management yesterday (February 25).

“We have decided to prohibit the capture of wild elephants except for purposes of rehabilitation into the wild,” says Van Schalkwyk. “In the case of genuine orphans on private and communal land they may be rehabilitated and reintroduced into the wild, or as a last resort, into bona fide sanctuaries if they cannot be rehabilitated,” he adds. The norms and standards will also prohibit the import and export of captive elephants and will prevent intensive breeding, other than natural birth, of elephants in captivity.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, together with the Department of Agriculture, has committed to drawing up minimum standards for the management of the 120 elephants already in captivity in South Africa, within the next 12 months. The standards will cover topics such as care, maintenance and permissible uses.

The minister also announced at the launch of the norms and standards that culling would be included as one of the methods permitted for elephant population control, but only as a last resort, acceptable only under strict conditions. Other options include range manipulations, removal by translocation, introduction of elephants and contraception. The norms and standards state that only when all other elephant population management options have been rejected by an ecologist can culling be considered. Authorities will also need to be provided details on the number of elephants to be culled, the method of animal selection, timeframes, culling methods and intended use of products.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Story by: Sue Lewitton