Green Options

African Elephant Bull Photographed in Kruger Park on 20 June 2009.

The author’s last two posts have shown that culling is often used as a “solution” to limit the growth in animal numbers in a particular situations. At the extremes, some animal rights lobbyists oppose the killing of animals on the basis of principle alone ignoring environmental or wildlife issues while some legislators look for a fast fix without a long term view and justify killing by the need to protect the remaining.
There are always a range of opinions and solutions which can be considered in these cases. There is normally neither enough time nor enough information to allow the development of a solution that is acceptable to all and guarantees a longterm solution to the problem. In this context, it is instructive to look at the elephant as an example of the difficulties in finding solutions even in very well studied cases.

Please note that this is a layman’s understanding based on a quick “reading” of two recent major reports and is clearly open to much discussion. The author is simply trying to get a simple overall understanding of managing elephant populations and to also present some interesting information contained in the two reports.

Controlling an Over Abundance of Elephants

Although many press reports focus on the threats to elephants through capture, poaching and commercial hunting, the African Elephant in South Africa is probably more threatened by their successful adaption to protected ranges than directly by man.

The Fur Seal - victim of possibly the most emotive culling.

A recent post on the culling of rabbits on Robin Island, prompted a quick look at news items on culling over the last month. This revealed a variety of motivations for culling, very different numbers culled and a range in the opposition to the culls. The culling of a quarter of a million dairy cows in an attempt to raise milk prices with almost no protest is the outlier in the group.

40,000 Domestic Goats and Sheep in Netherlands

The Dutch government is culling 40,000 goats and sheep this month in an attempt to limit the spread of Q fever, an animal-borne disease that can cause flu-like symptoms in people. It is believed that Q fever has caused six human deaths in the Netherlands in 2009.

A new phase in the ongoing efforts to control the rabbits on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison, will see rabbits being dressed for human use and donated to charity.

Robben Island

Robben Island really came into the news with the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the change of government in South Africa. International concerts featuring his cell number and visits to the museum by world figures added to the allure of the island a 30 minute ferry trip from Cape Town.

Then Robben Island made the news for less savoury activities that reflect the negative side of South Africa - political cronyism, mismanagement and corruption which lead to a deterioration in the museum and the island and eventually the replacement of the Robben Island Museum’s (RIM) complete management structure. A report on the operation of RIM in this period is still being withheld, against all kinds of pressure, by the Government.

If you’ve ever been to Texas, you know there’s no shortage of deer. They’re everywhere. But apparently that’s not enough for the elite hunting resorts that artificially maintain a herd of white-tailed deer through breeding farms and stock auctions - they can’t keep up the demand for big bucks due to trophy hunting desires.

But the big deer are expensive and hard to come by from the 1,100 licensed deer breeders inside the state of Texas, thus spawning a massive illegal trade of large antlered bucks from farms in northern states like Michigan. The illegal trade is putting the health of the Texas deer population at risk, all because people feel the need to shoot bigger deer.

Over a hundred conservation, wildlife, and animal welfare groups have sent a letter to incoming Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging him to rethink the often cruel practice of “lethal control” of wildlife by the USDA. The coalition contends that animals are killed through such means as shooting from airplanes and helicopters, poisoning, gassing dens, bludgeoning after capture, and strangling in wire snares.

In 2007, the USDA spent $100 million of taxpayer money to kill 2.4 million wild animals, including 90,262 coyotes, 2,277 gray foxes, 2,412 red foxes, 2,090 bobcats, 1,133 cats, 552 dogs, 577 badgers, and 340 gray wolves.

Once severely endangered, elephants in South Africa now thrive, causing some to worry that their population could threaten smaller species.

While some are calling to reinstate culling of elephants for the first time since 1994, other conservationists worry that the effects of killing elephants run deeper than we understand.

In 1900, the elephant population sunk to only 200 due to hunting; now, the population is estimated to be 17,000. This soaring number combined with their individual demand for feed can result in over-grazing, which hurts the rhinoceros and gazelle populations first.