Urge South Africa to 'Cull' Elephant Killing From Policy

South Africa is poised to finalize the country's Norms & Standards for Elephant Management, a policy that it describes as a "toolbox" of options for the management of elephants. Unbelievably, one of the "tools" that South Africa considers acceptable is "culling"—killing elephants as a method of "population control."

Mass killing operations tear apart elephant families and leave the survivors permanently scarred. Between 1966 and 1994, more than 16,000 elephants in South Africa's Kruger National Park were culled. Terrified elephants were herded into groups with helicopters while people on the ground and in the air opened fire with high-powered weapons. Elephants are capable of communicating over long distances, and their death screams were undoubtedly heard by other elephants miles away.

Innumerable orphaned calves, who were regarded as valuable collateral, were sold to zoos and circuses, where many were beaten into submission, chained, and confined and had their freedom taken and their spirits broken. Scientists are now determining that these individuals were left with lifelong emotional trauma from witnessing the violent executions of their families.

Respected scientists have condemned South Africa's proposal to kill elephants. There is no evidence that elephants pose an imminent risk to biodiversity. Reducing the elephant population is arbitrary and scientifically unsound, and it reflects outdated wildlife-management principles.

Please urge South Africa to remove culling from its list of options for elephant "management."