Kruger Park cull put on hold to win consensus

South African National Parks (SANP) has at the last minute delayed a crucial report on the highly controversial issue of elephant population management in the Kruger National Park and elsewhere in an attempt to achieve greater consensus on the issue. The report was scheduled to be presented to Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the environmental affairs and tourism minister, by the end of this month.

Scientists and managers at SANP have pushed for the delay to allow a re-examination of the large body of research data at their disposal and to consult more widely on the extent to which South Africa's burgeoning elephant population should be managed. The decision has been welcomed by scientists and a wide range of animal welfare groups.

In March Dr Hector Magome, the director of conservation services at SANP, caused a furore by suggesting that SANP was leaning towards culling to reduce the elephant population in Kruger National Park.

In response, international animal welfare and rights groups with millions of members worldwide expressed outrage and warned that culling would damage South Africa's reputation as a responsible manager of natural resources. Culling in the park was suspended in 1994.

"We will no longer be handing over the report at the end of April," Wanda Mkutshulwa, the director of communications at SANP, said.

"Our scientists have asked for an extension because they still need to consult further. The research is there already and they are now going to go through what they have.

"There is a large body of data they are still looking at. There is no need to rush the report."

Mkutshulwa said a new committee would be formed to overview, interpret and package the information. The committee would consist of a wide range of experts including scientists from SANP, universities and other organisations throughout the county and from neighbouring states with elephant populations.

"We are going to include as many experts as we can. We are still in the process of approaching people, but not everyone has the time to commit to the work," Mkutshulwa said. "I cannot say how long it will be before the work is completed."

Other interested parties would also be consulted, but she denied the decision was due to pressure from scientists or animal welfare groups who disagreed with culling.

Wildlife managers in other areas of South Africa with elephants have eagerly awaited the report in the hope it will help give guidance on how they should handle their elephant populations.

South Africa has no national elephant management policy and each province has its own conservation and wildlife regulations.

"We have been awaiting this report with great interest, but it seems we will have to go back to the drawing board," Koos Herbst, the manager of protected areas for North West Parks and Tourism, said.

"We have our own programmes and plans in place but we would not act without consulting widely."

The Pilanesberg National Park and Madikwe Game Reserve in North West have large elephant populations in relatively small reserves. Pilanesberg has more than 150 and Madikwe more than 450, but existing management plans recommend much smaller populations.

Professor Rudi van Aarde, the head of the Conservation Ecology Research Unit at Pretoria University, welcomed the decision to examine the issue more deeply.

"I think it's marvellous," he said. "We are increasingly seeing the extremes being removed from conservation with people seeking solutions at an intermediate level. I am regularly seeing the emergence, here and elsewhere in Africa, of a more positive approach among conservationists," Van Aarde said.

He and his colleagues are working on the concept of the formation of large conservation areas - "megaparks" - which treat the elephant populations in southern Africa as a whole and not as separate entities.

He believes the parks should eventually be linked, which will allow natural limitations of elephant populations, for instance by drought.

Other groups, sometimes critical of SANP, also believe the decision is a step in the right direction.

"I am very glad they have done this but we believe they should have done it long ago. We have consistently called for wider consultation and a deeper examination of the issues," Michelle Pickover, of animal rights group Xwe African Wildlife Investigation and Research Centre, said.

"Since the culling moratorium a wealth of complex information has been compiled and this must be properly understood."

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), which represents more than 2,5 million supporters worldwide, said the decision was to be applauded.

"Ifaw welcomes SANP's decision not to hurry through a management plan for Kruger's elephants and is particularly pleased that independent scientific advice has been sought in planning for the future," Jason Bell, the director of Ifaw in southern Africa, said.

There is considerable and often acrimonious debate on the issue of elephant management and the need to control populations. Some argue that limited or no intervention is necessary, while others say culling is the only cost-effective and practical method of limiting the effect large numbers of elephants have on vegetation.

The pro-culling lobby argue that the elephants consume vast quantities of food, knocking down trees and shrubs in the process, and alter habitats to such a degree that other species suffer.

They point out that game reserves exist to protect a wide range of animals, birds and plants, not only elephants. But many scientists and managers dispute the extent to which elephants adversely affect other species.

South Africa has an elephant population of approximately 16 500 on state and privately owned land.

The KNP and the complex of private reserves on its western boundary have an elephant population of about 13 500.