Room To Roam
Wild Magazine|Winter 2016

The ‘elephant problem’ in some protected areas is controversial, but numbers are no longer the focus of elephant management.

Room To Roam

Around campfires, and in the media, the closure of water points, birth control and the destruction of vegetation by elephants have long been hotly debated. Some argue there are too many of them. Yet the conservation aim is neither to cull or feed these icons, nor to nurture their babies. Modern day conservation focuses on the well-being of the land, instead of on populations. Is it possible to maintain ecological processes while providing space for elephants?

To find out more about this holistic approach to elephant management, Wild questioned internationally acknowledged elephant expert Rudi van Aarde, director of the Conservation Ecology Research Unit at the University of Pretoria.

Q. In essence, what is the ‘elephant problem’?

A. Human perceptions. The real problem we face is not elephants, but whether the space assigned to them and other wildlife provides for their needs and will ensure their persistence.

Q. Is a park as large as Kruger, an ecosystem of two million hectares, too small for the number of elephants?

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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Winter 2016-Ausgabe von Wild Magazine.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

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