IMAGINE 12,500 elephants roaming wild in an area no bigger than the state of Maine. That is what鈥檚 happening in Kruger National Park in South Africa, and they are doing so much damage that their number must be cut, the government has decided.
鈥淭he do-nothing approach is no longer an option,鈥� said South Africa鈥檚 environment minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on 20 September. He was backing a 10-year report by South African National Parks (SANParks), which warns that if elephant numbers are not brought under control, ancient trees and habitats of other species such as the black rhino will be decimated.
鈥淲e must avoid species loss,鈥� says Hector Magome, executive director of conservation at SANParks. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not putting any one species above another.鈥� Magome and his colleagues say that culling must be part of the solution, provided they can win public support.
Advertisement
鈥淧roviding contraception for 4000 female elephants would not be practical鈥�
Magome says that providing contraception for 4000 female elephants is not practical. Nor is transporting elephants across the nearby border to Mozambique, at a cost of at least 拢450 per animal.
