Kruger Park Elephant Cull Halted

The Kruger National Park has an elephant-sized problem: its elephant herds have grown too large, and are beginning to overrun the park, threatening to homogenize its many different and delicate eco-zones.

Having dismissed other solutions as impractical, park authorities settled on a policy, last year, of resuming their annual elephant cull, to prevent permanent damage to the Kruger environment. A cull moratorium had been in effect since 1996.

The move pitted park conservationists against animal-rights activists and outside scientists, although many in civil society’s environmental arena support culling, in the interests of fostering biodiversity.

Now, however, reports indicate that the park has halted its cull plans for the time being – not a single elephant has yet been killed – and will review the policy again. Doubtless the possibility of adverse public relations factored into this decision.

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