Minister says South Africa to cull elephants

An immobilized elephant fitted with a tracking collar is pictured some 80km northeast of Maputo, Mozambique. South Africa's Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced on Monday that a moratorium on elephant culling would be lifted beginning on May 1. PHOTO: EPA

South Africa will allow elephants to be killed in an attempt to control a burgeoning population, the government said, ending a 13-year ban and setting a trend that could embolden other southern African nations confronting the same dilemma.

As outraged animal rights activists threaten to promote tourist boycotts, South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Monday the government had no choice but to reintroduce culling "as a last option and under very strict conditions."

There would be no "wholesale slaughter," he promised.

"Our simple reality is that elephant population density has risen so much in some southern African countries that there is concern about impacts on the landscape, the viability of other species and the livelihoods and safety of people living within elephant ranges," he said.

South Africa has been hugely successful in managing its elephant population, once on the verge of extinction in some areas. But it has become a victim of its own success and herds are growing at a rate of more than 5 percent a year and expected to double by 2020, threatening the delicate balance of nature.

There is no consensus on the continent on how to manage elephant populations. Southern African countries favor culling while East African nations such as Kenya are struggling to keep numbers up. Trade in ivory has been banned since 1989 to try to combat poaching despite appeals by South Africa to resume sales and invest the proceeds in its parks.

"We are the first country to come out and take this decision," van Schalkwyk said, adding that South Africa had consulted other countries in the region.

Monday's announcement follows months of heated debate, with some conservationists arguing that overall biodiversity should take priority and animal welfare groups outraged at the prospect of slaughter.

Van Schalkwyk said the debate was marked by "strong emotions."

The new regulations on managing elephants, effective May 1, say killing must be through "quick and humane methods," preferably by a single lethal shot to the brain by a skilled marksman from a helicopter.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) cautiously welcomed the government's move.

"They are doing the responsible thing," said Rob Little, acting chief executive of WWF South Africa. "It is the right choice to have culling as an option but with strong provisos."

However, Animal Rights Africa, which is threatening to promote tourist boycotts, said that killing elephants was "undeniably cruel and morally reprehensible."

Spokeswoman Michele Pickover said South Africa does not have too many elephants and that the decision by the government posed a threat to the elephant population in southern Africa.

She said: "South Africa has opened the door to en masse killing of elephants."

She argued that the decision was linked to its push to have the ban on ivory trade lifted. South Africa has huge stockpiles of ivory but if it succeeded in getting the ban lifted it would "have to keep looking for more ivory," Pickover said.

Bob Scholes, who headed the assessment report of elephant management, dismissed Pickover's claims as "irrelevant."

He said that elephants earned about 18.6 billion rand (US$2.42 billion) a year from tourists and only 1.14 billion rand in ivory, hunting and sales.

"Elephants are worth much more alive than dead," he said.