South Africa considers elephant cull

The South African government is considering whether to resume culling of elephants in the Kruger National Park to try to combat the spiralling population of the mighty mammals.

Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk today said his department would submit guidelines on elephant population management for public comment by the end of the year. There has been a 10-year moratorium on culling elephants.

Parks officials say Kruger – one of the country’s top tourist attractions – is becoming dangerously overcrowded. The park currently has nearly 12,500 elephants, but this is expected to increase to 34,000 if the current growth of 7 per cent per year continues unchecked.

Between 1967 and 1994, 14,562 elephants were culled.