A sad development in South Africa has made news around the world this week. The story from the Associated Press went up on the International Herald Tribune website on Tuesday, February 26, headed, "S. Africa will kill elephants to control population, animal rights activists threaten boycotts."
It opens:
"South Africa will allow elephants to be killed in an attempt to control a burgeoning population, the government said, ending a 13-year ban and setting a trend that could embolden other southern African nations confronting the same dilemma.
We read:
"South Africa has been hugely successful in managing its elephant population, once on the verge of extinction in some parts of the country. But it has now become a victim of its own success and herds are growing at a rate of more than 5 percent a year and expected to double by 2020, threatening the delicate balance of nature.
"South Africa has about 18,000 elephants and southern Africa is home to about 300,000 -- half of all the elephants on the continent -- with the growing numbers taking their toll on the environment.
"There is no consensus on the continent on how to manage elephant populations. Southern African countries favor culling while East African nations such as Kenya are struggling to keep numbers up. 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."
"'We are the first country to come out and take this decision,' van Schalkwyk said, adding that South Africa had consulted other countries in the region."
We learn that other countries are expected to follow South Africa's example. But we also read about the impact of "international outrage":
"Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana -- which alone has the highest population of 165,000 elephants -- all used to cull before international outrage forced an end to the scenes of game rangers rounding up trumpeting, frightened herds and shooting the elephants."
Those who support the World Wildlife Fund learn from this article that "The World Wildlife Fund cautiously welcomed the government's move."
(That group also, for many years, gave Canada's seal hunt tacit support, and still refuses to condemn it.)
You'll find the story on line at
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/26/africa/AF-GEN-South-Africa-Elephants.php
And you can express some of that "international outrage" with letters to the editor sent to letters@iht.com
(The paper has an 150 word limit.)
The Washington Post story, by Craig Timberg, is headed "South Africa to Resume Elephant Culling."
It was printed on Tuesday February 26, pg a10.
It opens with a focus on a possible boycott:
"South Africa will lift a 13-year-old ban on using professional hunters to reduce burgeoning elephant populations, officials announced Monday, despite opposition from animal rights activists who call such killings barbaric and unnecessary.
"Officials set no date for a resumption of culling, but activists immediately threatened tourism boycotts or court action to fight the move. Before the moratorium, sharpshooters borne by helicopters routinely killed hundreds of elephants at a time as a way to manage destructive herds."
It tells us:
"Conservation officials in several African countries have struggled for years to strike a balance between the beloved animals, which have helped fuel a lucrative tourism boom, and other forms of wildlife whose habitats they devastate. In addition, elephants roaming beyond game parks sometimes trample villagers' crops.
"Since the ban went into effect in 1995, the number of elephants in South Africa has grown from about 9,000 to more than 20,000.
"Large swaths of Kruger National Park, South Africa's largest, have been transformed from woodland to grassland as thousands of elephants eat more than 300 pounds of vegetation apiece daily, leaving a trail of flattened trees. Among their targets are centuries-old baobab trees, which they slice open with their tusks and gradually topple."
But it notes the popularity of elephants with tourists:
"But among park visitors, elephants consistently rank among the most popular animals to view while they stand, tall as a one-story house, casually chomping on trees. Many people say that elephants appear to exhibit an almost human consciousness as they look directly into the eyes of tourists who stop to watch them."
And it offers this touching reminder of our kinship with them:
"South African wildlife officials killed more than 14,000 elephants between 1967 and 1995, when culling ended. In those years, entire families were often killed together because wildlife officials believed that survivors would suffer terrible grief over lost relatives."
Note: In many countries, the babies, having just seen their entire families wiped out, were packed up and shipped off to Western circuses and zoos, which made the culls extremely lucrative. So the article notes that The International Fund for Animal Welfare, while opposed to culling (unlike the World Wildlife Fund) at least praised the decision "to prohibit the capture of wild elephants for zoos, circuses or elephant-back safaris."
We also learn from this article that efforts at contraception and relocation have gone poorly, but
"More promising have been efforts to expand their migratory ranges. Kruger is gradually merging with neighboring parks in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, making the seasonal movements of elephants easier. In the past, game reserves grew from spare pieces of land regarded as having little development value, without regard to the herds' seasonal migrations.
"Some scientists have argued that culling is a crude technique for solving problems that grew from poor wildlife management, such as the creation of permanent watering points, which made it easier for tourists to spot animals but disrupted their natural movements."
You'll find the full article on line at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/25/AR2008022500970_pf.html
You can comment on that page or, better yet, send a letter to the editor at letters@washpost.com
The story was in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times headed "South Africa to resume elephant kills." Angelenos can read it on line at
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-elephants26feb26,1,4344133.story
and send letters to letters@latimes.com
Canada's National Post also carried the story on Tuesday, February 26, by Mike Cohen, headed, "The pachyderm problem; Animal-rights groups vow boycotts after South Africa plans elephant cull" (pg A3)
It tells us:
"The ivory from culled elephants will be stockpiled while South Africa negotiates with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species over its possible sale."
Canadians can send letters at http://tinyurl.com/2ktgt7
The Australian (Australia) ran the story today, Wednesday February 27, headed, "S Africa allows elephant cull as `last resort'" (Pg 10)
Aussies will find it on line at
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23281160-32682,00.html
and can send letters to The Australian at letters@theaustralian.com.au
And please keep an eye out for the story in your local media. It presents a great opportunity to speak on behalf of the animals about the way humans deal with the overpopulation issues of other species.
Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published.
You can also go to http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17943 to "send a letter to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, expressing your concern about the proposed cull and the impacts it would not only have on these intelligent, social animals but also on how the country is perceived as a wildlife destination."
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)