Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is appealing for help to avoid an imminent culling process due to elephant overpopulation at the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, Tembe Elephant Park, Ithala Game Reserve, and Umkhuze Game Reserve.
The Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, an entity of the provincial government, is appealing to local and international game reserve owners to provide space to translocate its surplus elephants and avoid an imminent painful culling process.
The entity says it is battling elephant overpopulation at the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, Tembe Elephant Park, Ithala Game Reserve, and Umkhuze Game Reserve – all in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
It said the overpopulation happened despite long-term contraception and attempts at protected area expansion, and the overpopulation is ecologically unsustainable and poses a significant threat to biodiversity conservation within the reserves and ultimately threatens the well-being of the elephants themselves.
“This appeal has become more urgent in light of recent media articles suggesting that Ezemvelo is planning to address the elephant overpopulation through culling or translocation. In reality, although the Board has agreed that animals need to be removed, the organisation has not yet made any final decisions on how and when this will happen.
“Translocation is only considered if suitable reserves are found, and no decision has been made on culling, although it may become necessary in the near future if the protected area ecosystems are to be protected, neighbouring communities safeguarded, and elephant wellbeing ensured,” the entity said in a statement.
Ezemvelo cited the case of Madikwe Game Reserve, which is currently facing elephant overpopulation, and it has led to significant vegetation destruction and the tragic, lingering deaths from starvation of more than 70 elephants.
“It is precisely to prevent this kind of suffering that Ezemvelo is compelled to act. Given its mandate to conserve all elements of the rich biodiversity in the reserves entrusted to its care, Ezemvelo would be failing in its mandate if it allowed the current overpopulation crisis to escalate to a point where important protected area values in reserves like Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park are lost.
“For this reason, Ezemvelo again calls on all NGOs and other conservation role-players to come forward with urgent, viable, and ethical solutions for elephant range expansion and translocation to delay the need for culling in the near future. Finding solutions to reduce populations will also reduce human-wildlife conflict, including reducing the risk of death or injury of neighbouring community members, often experienced when elephants escape from the game reserves.
“Should non-lethal range expansion or translocation solutions prove impractical, Ezemvelo will be compelled to resort to lethal options to address overpopulation to protect the broader ecosystem,” the entity further said.
