THE quota of elephants to be culled in the Kruger National Park this year will be cut by half and only “humane” methods will be used to kill them.
This was announced by the National Parks Board yesterday after a marathon debate was held in Johannesburg between conservationists and animal rights groups over the controversial elephant harvest.
Park authorities announced they would also undertake an in- depth review of elephant management policy and numbers that will be harvested in future years.
“In addition to the ongoing scientific monitoring and research, the review will take into account new ideas on the population dynamics and population structure of the … elephant and probe the accuracy of the census method used.”
The board said it would no longer use the controversial drug Scoline to carry out the cull.
“Future operations will be carried out using firearms not