A new transition from human-elephant conflict to human-elephant coexistence
Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Champika Ranawaka, Daily Mirror
March 5. 2008
News reports from Pretoria South Africa revealed that the South African Government was reversing the 1995 ban on killing elephants to help control their booming population. Environment Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk told reporters ‘Our simple reality is that elephant population density has risen so much in some southern African countries that there is concern about impacts on the landscape. The viability of other species and livelihoods safety of people living within elephant ranges.” It is also reported that South African elephant population has ballooned to more than 20,000 from 8,000 in 1995, when international pressure led to a ban on killing them.
It is evident that most parts of the African continent from time to time has used ‘culling’ as a mitigatory measure to control growing elephant population and thereby human elephant conflict. Hunting, sale of ivory and other elephant parts has been a lucrative business in Africa.
In Asian countries (Burma., Thailand, India etc.) capturing and domestication are used as instruments to control the elephant population.
In 1952, the then Director of the Department of Wildlife of Sri Lanka Mr. C.W. Nicholas issued 186 permits to kill wild elephants who were roaming in villages. It should be noted that those days Sri Lanka had a forest cover over 45% of the land mass and elephant population was reduced greatly due to mass killing by British colonials.
To read the full story click on the blog title
No comments:
Post a Comment