SA mulls ideas to deal with jumbo ‘explosion’

ADDO ELEPHANT PARK – South Africa’s environment minister yesterday proposed contraception and some culling – but no mass slaughter – to slow rampant elephant population growth.

The elephant population of 20 000 is growing at a rate of more than six per cent per year, disrupting the delicate biodiversity in the flagship Kruger National Park and other wildlife parks, Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said. He said the government has proposed new management measures, including removal of elephants to other areas, creation of special enclosures to protect other species, expansion of parks, contraception and culling.”I would have preferred not to consider the options of both culling and contraception,” he said.”The government will never give a blank cheque to culling,” Van Schalkwyk told journalists at the Addo Elephant Park.Environmental groups and other interested parties have until May 4 to comment on the proposals and then after that it may take many more months to bring the measures into force.South Africa has been hugely successful in managing its elephant populations, once on the verge of extinction.Too successful, said Van Schalkwyk, pointing out that herds in the Kruger Park, and also smaller parks like Addo, are expected to double by 2020.”We can conserve elephants but we have to start to worry about what we conserve with it,” said Professor Graham Kerley, an elephant expert who works with officials at Addo National Park, which currently has some 450 elephants.The announcement followed months of impassioned debate, with some conservationists arguing that overall biodiversity should take priority and animal welfare groups outraged at the prospect of slaughter.The government fears upsetting tourists who flock to see the Big Five animals in the Kruger.Van Schalkwyk said the government proposal was designed to preserve the balance of nature that draws visitors.The country culled a total of 14 562 elephants between 1967 and 1994.Without that cull, the population would have rocketed by now to 80 000, according to park estimates.Based on current trends, the population of 17 000 is expected to reach 34 000 by 2020 if not curbed.In 2005, the South African National Parks said culling should be considered one way to limit the population boom.Van Schalkwyk declined to predict how many elephants might die if culling does get the final green light.But he said more sophisticated management options – like improving fencing and expanding parks – offered new alternatives.”There is a huge difference between what we had then and now,” he said of the pre-1994 era.Conservation experts say there are also signs that elephants are beginning to move from the Kruger into Mozambique, where populations are much more sparse because of the long civil war, thanks to the removal of national fences in a new trans-frontier park.There is no regional consensus on the issue.South Africa, Namibia and Botswana all have booming elephant populations, while East African nations such as Kenya are struggling.Trade in ivory has been banned since 1989 to try to combat poaching, despite appeals by South Africa to resume sales and invest the proceeds in its parks.Botswana has by far the biggest elephant population, with an estimated 165 000 elephants, according to van Schalkwyk.He said Zimbabwe had an estimated 80 000 and Mozambique some 20 000.”Already the movement of elephants in the region is causing tensions,” he said, citing the example of destruction caused by elephants moving from Botswana to Namibia.A single elephant devours up to 300 kg of grass, leaves and twigs a day.And they are messy eaters – 60 per cent gets wasted.”The feeding impact of elephants is enormous because of their large size and the way they feed,” Kerley told reporters who visited the park on Tuesday.Addo is regarded as a model in elephant management.Each elephant has its own computerised file and name, and park officials can distinguish them even at a distance.About an hour’s drive from the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth, it was established as a national elephant park in 1931 after local hunters and farmers decimated the herd to just 11 beasts.With the acquisition of more land and extensive fencing to protect the animals from harm, the population has mushroomed.Nampa-APHe said the government has proposed new management measures, including removal of elephants to other areas, creation of special enclosures to protect other species, expansion of parks, contraception and culling.”I would have preferred not to consider the options of both culling and contraception,” he said.”The government will never give a blank cheque to culling,” Van Schalkwyk told journalists at the Addo Elephant Park.Environmental groups and other interested parties have until May 4 to comment on the proposals and then after that it may take many more months to bring the measures into force.South Africa has been hugely successful in managing its elephant populations, once on the verge of extinction.Too successful, said Van Schalkwyk, pointing out that herds in the Kruger Park, and also smaller parks like Addo, are expected to double by 2020.”We can conserve elephants but we have to start to worry about what we conserve with it,” said Professor Graham Kerley, an elephant expert who works with officials at Addo National Park, which currently has some 450 elephants.The announcement followed months of impassioned debate, with some conservationists arguing that overall biodiversity should take priority and animal welfare groups outraged at the prospect of slaughter.The government fears upsetting tourists who flock to see the Big Five animals in the Kruger.Van Schalkwyk said the government proposal was designed to preserve the balance of nature that draws visitors.The country culled a total of 14 562 elephants between 1967 and 1994.Without that cull, the population would have rocketed by now to 80 000, according to park estimates.Based on current trends, the population of 17 000 is expected to reach 34 000 by 2020 if not curbed.In 2005, the South African National Parks said culling should be considered one way to limit the population boom.Van Schalkwyk declined to predict how many elephants might die if culling does get the final green light.But he said more sophisticated management options – like improving fencing and expanding parks – offered new alternatives.”There is a huge difference between what we had then and now,” he said of the pre-1994 era.Conservation experts say there are also signs that elephants are beginning to move from the Kruger into Mozambique, where populations are much more sparse because of the long civil war, thanks to the removal of national fences in a new trans-frontier park.There is no regional consensus on the issue.South Africa, Namibia and Botswana all have booming elephant populations, while East African nations such as Kenya are struggling.Trade in ivory has been banned since 1989 to try to combat poaching, despite appeals by South Africa to resume sales and invest the proceeds in its parks.Botswana has by far the biggest elephant population, with an estimated 165 000 elephants, according to van Schalkwyk.He said Zimbabwe had an estimated 80 000 and Mozambique some 20 000.”Already the movement of elephants in the region is causing tensions,” he said, citing the example of destruction caused by elephants moving from Botswana to Namibia.A single elephant devours up to 300 kg of grass, leaves and twigs a day.And they are messy eaters – 60 per cent gets wasted.”The feeding impact of elephants is enormous because of their large size and the way they feed,” Kerley told reporters who visited the park on Tuesday.Addo is regarded as a model in elephant management.Each elephant has its own computerised file and name, and park officials can distinguish them even at a distance.About an hour’s drive from the southern coastal city of Port Elizabeth, it was established as a national elephant park in 1931 after local hunters and farmers decimated the herd to just 11 beasts.With the acquisition of more land and extensive fencing to protect the animals from harm, the population has mushroomed.Nampa-AP