Elephant cull mooted.Hundreds of elephants in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. may have to be culled to cope with their soaring numbers, authorities in South Africa have announced. Martinius Van Schalkwyk, the country's environment and tourism minister, has reported that the Kruger National Park Kruger National Park, game reserve, c.8,000 sq mi (20,720 sq km), Limpopo and Mpumalanga, NE South Africa. One of the world's largest wildlife sanctuaries, it has almost every species of game found in southern Africa. , home to two thirds of the country's elephant population, now has over 12,400 animals. "The problem is one of space," says Jason Bell-Leask the southern Africa
"It's an extremely emotive issue and any decision to bring back culling culling removal of inferior animals from a group of breeding stock. The removal is premature, i.e. before completion of its life span, disposal of an animal from a herd or other group. , which no one wants to do, is never taken lightly," says Rob Little of the World Wildlife Fund in South Africa. As well as the culling option, wildlife experts are also considering introducing contraception measures. |
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