PRETORIA, South Africa — South Africa said Monday that it will start killing elephants to reduce their burgeoning numbers, ending a 13-year ban and possibly setting a precedent for other African nations.
Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the government was left with no choice but to reintroduce killing elephants “as a last option and under very strict conditions.”
South Africa has been hugely successful in protecting its elephant population, once on the verge of extinction in parts of the country. It has about 18,000 elephants, and southern Africa is home to about 300,000 — half of all the elephants on the continent.
But elephants can turn woodlands to grass and stubs in a matter of years. They need to roam widely to get their daily diet of about 660 pounds of grass, leaves and twigs and up to 52 gallons of water. And they increasingly clash with people.
The World Wildlife Fund cautiously welcomed the government’s move.
“They are doing the responsible thing,” said Rob Little, acting chief executive of WWF South Africa. “It is the right choice to have culling as an option but with strong provisos.”
