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Controlling South Africa's Elephant PopulationControlling South Africa's elephant population By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times WELGEVONDEN, South Africa - Samson, otherwise known as Elephant No. 1, is twisting his trunk around tufts of grass and throwing them into his mouth. He is aware that David Powrie has sneaked up on him but is willing to ignore him for now. The tall, blond, sunburned ranger knows each one of the 120 elephants here in Welgevonden Game Reserve, identifying them by nicks in their ears, tusks and the patterning of their tails - almost like a fingerprint. He sniffs the air for the bulls in must (they exude an oily secretion when looking for females) and follows their dinner-plate-size footprints. He knows a turn of the wind can change an elephant's mood instantly. Powrie also knows elephants hate loud noises. Samson, like most, does not like helicopters, given the habit those shrieking metal beasts have of swooping down and leaving one forever changed, as happened last year. Article at the following link:
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Managed wildlife
Tue, 2008-01-15 07:44 by Hans
Interesting article, thanks! It makes me try to tackle a very difficult topic, wildlife management. Here is my personal impression and opinion.
One problem with managed wildlife, particularly with reducing the number of elephants, is that, once you begin, everything changes.
The first to change is the vegetation. Elephants shape their environment to a considerable degree, for example by reducing the number of trees, by creating paths through the bush, and generally by selectively eating a huge amount of plant material.
Reducing the number of elephants effects the entire ecosystem, and the end result is something that is not nature. If you visit a managed park as a researcher or as a tourist, you can never be sure whether what you see is nature or the result of human interference. Everything is changed—the vegetation can be quite different, and generally the numbers and distribution of every species can be different both locally and across the entire managed area.
I hope that as many nature reserves as possible remain unmanaged and that particularly their elephants remain free to roam the lands they have owned and shaped for many millions of years.