OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 7.20pm.
AGRICULTURE Minister Derek Hanekom said on Thursday that the department of agriculture and land affairs views the controversial training of Tuli elephant calves in Brits as a pilot project to determine whether it could be an alternative to culling.
Hanekom said training the elephants could give them a better quality of life in zoos, safari parks and ecotourism ventures as they will be familiar with human contact. ”The training of elephants as a viable alternative to culling should not be discarded without our having invested time and effort in investigating whether and how this could be made into a humane alternative,” Hanekom said.
The 30 young elephants, bought from Botswana’s overpopulated Tuli Reserve by African Wildlife Services’ Riccardo Ghiazza in August, are at the centre of a court attempt to seize them by the SPCA.
Hanekom said he is concerned about the treatment of elephants in Brits and welcomed the concern showed by local and international animal welfare organisations.
A committee, formed on Sunday to monitor the elephants’ health and welfare, will also screen all destinations and no elephants would be exported to destinations not approved by it.