Culling African Elephants

(Gabarone, Botswana) A Botswana ministry official stated that President Festus Mogae will confer with Zambian President Levi Mwanawasa for support in downgrading the endangered species status of African elephants to allow culling. Huge elephant herds are blamed for destroying the environment in Botswana and Zambia.

Similarly, in South Africa, Hector Magome, Director of Conservation for South African National Parks, stated that:

"We are strongly leaning towards culling and we want the public to digest this hard fact."

In South Africa's Kruger National Park, about the size of New Jersey, elephants are depleting vegetation to the point that their food supply is threatened. Four options are being considered, the first being culling. Second is relocation, third is contraception, and fourth is a combination of culling and contraception. The easiest, cheapest, and most effective is culling.

Needless to mention, animal welfare groups will protest loudly. It's also expected that a distinct objection will be raised by countries which have a significant problem with ivory poachers. As long as ivory is allowed to be harvested during authorized culling, poachers will be able to mix illegally obtained ivory into the market. Countries with recovering herds, such as Kenya, fear an increased incentive to poach.

My take is that just about any controversy regarding animals becomes global news. As an example, dolphins beach themselves in Florida and it's news in Australia. And who hasn't heard about the apparently fragile caribou in Alaska. Consequently, within the next few months we can all expect to see the media make African elephant culling a global crisis.