Posted on behalf of Lauren Young:

South Africa has lifted a 13-year ban on elephant culling, to help manage the flourishing pachyderm population.

Elephants were once close to being wiped out in many parts of the continent, but have more than doubled in number in South Africa since 1995. The Agence France-Presse says a government assessment report suggests this could lead to the “loss of crops and infrastructure” and the “infection of livestock as a result of elephants having breached veterinary fences, thus allowing the mingling of wildlife and domestic stock and direct injury or loss of human life”.

Culling, with strict provisos, has been legalized as a last resort, the government asserts. Yet some conservationists have condemned the action, warning that it may encourage ivory poachers and could threaten populations elsewhere.

The Associated Press cites the example of Congo’s Virunga National Park, in which 14 elephants have been killed since mid-April by angry residents, rebels and soldiers. Emmanuel de Merode, director of the conservation group WildlifeDirect, has described it as “part of a widespread slaughter across the Congo Basin”. He argues it is due to the “liberalisation of the ivory trade…and the increased presence of Chinese operators on the ground, who feed a massive domestic demand for ivory in their home country”.

Other ways of curbing the elephant numbers include relocation and hormone based contraception, although these are thought to be less effective.

Image: USFWS