- Ivy Terry
The Controversy of Elephant Culling
Press and advertising have pushed the theory that elephant populations are threatened, diminished by habitat loss, poaching and a variety of other reasons. Within the 1930s habitat damage and heavy ivory poaching had decreased South Africa's elephant society from 3-5 million to around 500, 000 (Harmse, Riana). Since then, through protection, regulations the elephant populace in South Africa has increased dramatically, to the idea of overabundance. Because of the recent prosperity in the elephant society, measures to control their ecology is essential to medical and wellbeing of the ecosystem, neighboring varieties, and the prevention of elephant-human issue. In South Africa's Kruger National Park, in particular, this animals management is essential in keeping a successfully thriving park. There were many ways Kruger has pursued in dealing with the elephant populace issue. Including birth control in females, birth control in males, relocation and the establishment of corridors, however the most popular in previous years has been culling (Harmse, Riana). Culling is a controversial subject as it pertains to management since it entails physically eradicating elephants in a society to lessen its size. So controversial in proven fact that it was outlawed in Kruger in 1995 but recently reintroduced back as a management method, in smaller level (Harmse, Riana).
Kruger today has around 13, 050 elephants and this population keeps growing exponentially ("Role of Bull Elephant"). With lack of predators and a good amount of unnatural and natural watering openings, and also other natural resources, there is no managing the rate of people growth of these pets (Harmse, Riana). This expansion is an imminent problem for the park as well as its adjoining areas. To begin with, elephants move in herds, this implies they have a considerable effect on landscape and tree cover in the surroundings. These herds are also constantly moving, covering and destroying vase amounts of land each day ("Role of Bull Elephant"). Kruger is 7, 523 square miles, though this seems large, it isn't enough space to support such a human population of large mammals (Harmse, Riana). This problem of space contributes to greater and much more frequent human-elephant conflict as well as the damage of playground boundary fences and much more recurrent crop raids ("Role of Bull Elephant"). There were many other suggested and tested methods of elephant human population control in Kruger but none of them have been proven to be as effectual as total annual culls. Contraceptives in male or female elephants prove to be expensive, invasive, frustrating rather than always successful. Relocation led to elephants returning through the playground boundary as well to be massively expensive and dangerous for both functions. Finally, the intro of corridors from playground to park has shown to be too expensive and there is merely no land open to dedicate to this sort of extension (Harmse, Riana). It is from the ashes of the other ways of management that culling was reintroduced to Kruger. Currently 500 to 600 elephants are killed in Kruger each year in order to keep the population as close to 13, 000 as is feasible ("Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question"). After these elephants are killed they are really immediately removed and taken to digesting locations to which all elements of the animal are being used; meats for food, bones for charms and tools, organs for drugs and medical research etc. (Harmse, Riana).
Though culling is the most widely used form of elephant people management found in Kruger today additionally it is the most contested. Every year 950, 000 people visit Kruger and these visitors account for huge amount of money worthy of of income for the playground yearly (Harmse, Riana). Certainly any detriment to this tourism would be to the drawback of the recreation area and elephant culling, even if covered from the public, has proven to cause a drop in tourists (Harmse, Riana). Culling in the recreation area isn't only affecting tourism but the wellness of the elephants as well. Elephants are one of the very most sensitive mammals on the planet and one could only imagine the psychological harm occurring to young after a culling. Typically, hunters will end up in and get rid of the elders of the herd, giving the young (Harmse, Riana). This terribly disrupts the age structure of the population by removing the knowledge necessary to improve the elephant young. This has been known to cause said young to expand up as rogue elephants, eliminating themselves from the herd, wreaking havoc on the recreation area and neighboring areas ("Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question"). These elephants need to be killed due to them posing such a substantial threat to humans. Apart from being very sensitive, elephants are brilliant creatures. They are known to talk from herd to herd by using low regularity grunts very similar to how whales converse. Therefore, if elephants are culled in a single area others know about it, this aggravates them and they can get very frightened, resulting in panic and additional damage to the surroundings and hazard to humans ("Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull This is the Question"). Another major nervous about culling in elephant populations is the fact that professional hunters aren't always used. That is a considerable issue. These kills must be clean and fast, hurt elephants are incredibly dangerous, and their cries cause more stress to the rest of the herd and can provoke long lasting psychological destruction on the young. Quick removal of the systems is also very important because of the fact that staying elephants often will get back to see their deceased companions which places even more stress on the animal ("Elephants To Cull or Never to Cull That Is the Question"). Finally, elephants have a keen sense of smell. A whole lot so that they can smell elephants which have been in stress, blood on the ground, and other indicators of loss of life. Elephants are warded off by these smells and will no longer range in areas where a cull has occurred, even years following the event. This may cause problems if the region had been a migratory path for the herd. The elephants would have to take alternative routes to avoid the region, potentially getting them into connection with farms and villages as well as the likelihood of them never finding their traditional feeding grounds, leading to starvation ("Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull This is the Question").
The culling of elephants as a management way in Kruger National Recreation area is a broadly debated topic. In my opinion I think that the culling of elephants in Kruger or in any other location should be outlawed. I am not necessarily against culling all together but with such a hypersensitive animal as the elephant it isn't appropriate. You will discover other circumstances in which culling may establish useful and not be of such detriment to the species. Authoritize in britain, for example, have just lately started regulated culling of badgers. The significant local badger populace has been thought to distributed tuberculosis to neighboring cow herds. In response, two major culls have taken place, these culls have which can lower the tuberculosis in herds without having any detriment to this structure, mental health or the badger population's overall wellness ("Second Season of Badger Culling Begins"). Because of this it is of the most importance that before any kind of culling occurs an intensive analysis of family composition, age composition, mental health and behaviors is looked into on an species to species basis. From there, other strategies can be weighed predicated on population size and situation. Culling is a viable option for populace management but on the situational basis and in terms of the elephant it is improper.
Work Cited
"Elephant Populace Management. " Kruger Playground Information. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
"Elephants To Cull or Never to Cull That Is the Question. " Kruger Recreation area Times. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Harmse, Riana. "Elephant Human population Management In Kruger. " Olifants Reserve, Kruger National Area, Limpopo, South Africa. Aug. 2014. Lecture.
"Role of Bull Elephant. " Elephant Culling. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
"Second Yr of Badger Culling Takes place. " BBC Media. N. p. , n. d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
