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S. Africa May Cull Elephants in 2009 for First Time Since 1994
South Africa may start its first elephant culls since 1994 next year to protect other species harmed by their destruction of habitats.

South Africa's elephant population has swelled to 17,000 from 200 in 1900 when hunting had slashed their numbers, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, South Africa's environment minister, said Nov. 12 in an interview in London. That's leading to overgrazing that threatens animal species including rhinos and antelopes, he said.

"The problem in one sentence is the overpopulation of elephants is now starting to lead to a threat to other species - - animals as well as plant life,'' the minister said. "We're becoming a victim of our own conservation success.''

South Africa on Feb. 25 said it may allow the first elephant culls since 1994, though it's yet to approve any managed killings of the animal. The announcement prompted criticism from the conservation group Animal Rights Africa, which declared it "truly a devastating day'' for elephants.

Animal rights activists oppose the killings because of the response of the animals, which demonstrate distress during and after the hunts.

African elephants can weigh as much as 6.5 metric tons and live for 70 years. Elephants demonstrate complex social behavior when members of family units die. They sometimes cover dead animals with leaves and twigs and stay by the body for days, according to the Web site of Wayne State University in Detroit.

`Cow-Calf Units'

In the case of a cull, so-called "cow-calf units,'' comprising a family of six or more elephants led by a matriarch, must be killed in their entirety, or not at all. Hunters must use rifles with a minimum caliber of .375 inches and full-metal jacket, hard-nosed rounds, a report from the ministry said last year.

The ministry is waiting for national, provincial and private park authorities to submit management plans, and if culling is recommended for a specific area, it will probably begin next winter, Van Schalkwyk said. The South African winter runs from about May to August and is a time when vegetation is thinner making it easier to find the animals.

"Culling is the last option for us,'' Van Schalkwyk said. "We've approved it as one of the options in the toolbox. Others for instance are translocation and contraception.''

Translocation and contraception have in the past been criticized for their cost.

Not all conservation groups are critical of South Africa. The government is "going about it the right way,'' Sue Lieberman, director of the WWF International species program, said in a telephone interview from Gland, Switzerland, where the organization is based. WWF is known in the U.S. as the World Wildlife Fund.

'Not a preferred option'

"In some areas there may be too many elephants for the available area, and culling may be needed,'" Lieberman said. "It's not a preferred option and it's not a pretty sight. Nobody wants to do this, but the option of doing nothing doesn't exist.''

Other South African countries have worse elephant overpopulation problems. Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa have a combined pachyderm population of 312,000, according to South African National Parks.

The organization, which manages more than 20 parks, including the 110-year old Kruger, says elephants can harm biodiversity, invade plantations and break fences, allowing buffalo to escape from national parks and spread diseases such as foot-and-mouth to livestock.

In a report to the government three years ago, it said killing elephants should be an acceptable way of controlling their population to reduce damage to other animals and the environment. Elephants tear down trees while foraging.

'Direct Competitors'

"The first animals that start to suffer are direct competitors; rhino, for instance; some antelope species,'' Van Schalkwyk said. "So the moment your elephant numbers in a certain area get out of control, rhinos just disappear and literally start to die off.''

Culling generates little revenue as sales of ivory are banned until 2016 by the United Nations' Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. South Africa and three other southern African nations were this month and last month allowed to hold UN-supervised one-off sales.

In the past, revenue from the dead elephants has been generated from sales of meat and curios. Elephant products are used to manufacture items ranging from fly whisks to stools made from their feet.

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