Any resumption of culling in South Africa’s national parks will have swift and severe repercussions globally, international conservationist Lawrence Anthony has warned.
Known for rescuing animals from former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein’s palaces, the South African has now embarked on a mission to stop the South African National Parks’ (SANParks) proposed cull of more than 5 000 elephants in the Kruger National Park.
”We believe that more scientific research is needed before any decision is taken. There is not enough research on how many animals the Kruger Park can carry,” Anthony said.
Television images showing elephants killed would spark international outrage, he warned, adding that the era of the internet would make matters worse.
The Washington-based Humane Society of the United States had threatened to advise its 8,5-million members to avoid South Africa as a tourist destination if the cull takes place.
Kenya had approached South Africa to vaccinate 700 elephants using a long-lasting contraceptive administered by someone flying above the elephant herd in a helicopter.
”We are exporting our technology, but we are not using it ourselves,” said Anthony.
”We get protein from pigs and dart the animals, and it prevents them from conceiving,” said Ian Raper of the Pretoria-based South African Association for the Advancement of Science.
”It has been used since the 1970s on numerous animals like horses and seals in the sea, and it has been tested in the Kruger Park.”
Anthony and Raper feel South African conservation authorities may not be sufficiently informed about the latest advances in elephant contraception to make an informed decision on using this technology.
”People don’t know that contraception has improved. It’s not hormonal anymore. There should be no fear of the vaccine at all,” said Raper.
”Culling is a terrible prospect. The animals will be traumatised and become aggressive.”
The vaccine had been proven to work in a number of small game parks, said Christina Pretorius of the non-governmental International Fund for Animal Welfare.
”It’s an option that we need to explore further,” she said.
Pretorius believes widespread opposition to the proposed cull may yet sway South African officials.
”I don’t think that the government will be able to push this through without expecting a lot of protests from scientists and animal rights groups,” she said.
However, Johannesburg-based conservationist Gehard Verdoorn does not believe contraception is, economically and ecologically, the only solution.
Cautioning that no contraceptive had been formally approved and accepted yet, pending additional research, he said all options for managing the elephant population had to be taken into account.
According to official statistics, the number of elephants in the Kruger park has risen from 7 500 in 1994 to 12 500 this year.
”I don’t think anybody likes the idea of culling elephants. But it is a definite option to contribute to the management of overpopulation — as long as it’s done with the most humane and ethical methods available to the Kruger National Park,” said Verdoorn.
”In all South African national parks with elephants, the populations are increasing at near maximal rates and currently show no signs of being limited,” SANparks chief executive David Mabunda said in a recent report.
”Populations cannot continue to grow indefinitely,” he added.
South Africa suspended culling in the Kruger National Park in 1995, mostly as a result of local and international pressure. In the preceding three decades, about 16 000 elephants were culled in South Africa. – Sapa-IPS