Stop killing elephants for behaving naturally in the wild!

  • by: Michael Taylor
  • recipient: Dr David Mabunda Chief Executive Officer

Watch as the tourists drive towards the elephant instead of backing off

SANParks say that they no regret in killing an elephant for, well behaving like an elephant.

The park in question is the world famous Kruger National Park, and they claim to have no regrets in killing an elephant that attacked two tourists, despite dramatic footage that has surfaced - showing they took unnecessary risk. In fact footage shows that they had ample time to drive away, ample warning that the elephant was agitated and yet they actually drove towards it; any angry elephant would see this as a threat. Yet instead of driving away, or doing what any game ranger worth his salt would tell you. Turn your car off and keep still. They drove closer, changing from an irritation, to a threat.

SANParks, or South African National Parks manages a system of parks, which represents the indigenous fauna, flora, landscapes and associated cultural heritage of South Africa. They are meant to be the guardians of South Africa’s wildlife, protectors of the countries national parks and conservation is top of their list. Well so you would think. When an organization, which specializes in wildlife, is run by fat cat bureaucrats who’s idea of a stampede is the rush at lunchtime to KFC or that wildlife conservation is killing animals in their natural environment because of their natural behavior, well then we have a problem.

They were quoted as saying “We have no regrets, the animal would have been put down irrespective as it was unusually aggressive. "Our rangers reported that the same elephant bull had been involved in previous fights with other dominant bulls since it has been in musth phase." Now this musth phase is a periodic condition in bull (male) elephants, characterized by highly aggressive behavior and is accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones: Mating time. It has also been speculation that musth is connected to natural periodic reorganization of dominance among males in elephant herd. In other words, it is natural; elephants fight for dominance in their herds in this phase. This ensures that the species stays strong, that the healthiest bulls mate, that the strogest lead the heard: survival of the fittest.

Yet SANParks sees this natural behavior as a bad thing, and kills an elephant in this phase for over turning a car, when it was actually provoked. And then claim that he was attacking other elephants too. Of course he was. Every male elephant in the park was; they have been doing since they existed and they will continue to do so till they are all extinct. And it seems like we don’t even need poachers to take them to extinction. SANParks will happily oblige.

So two silly tourists get away with a damaged car, and an elephant had to die for protecting his space, in his environment, in the wild. And the protectors of the wild have no regrets? 

Lets make them feel some regret! Lets send a message loud and clear to the so-called heroes of conservation. Conservation is saving and protecting life, not destroying it. And please, do not hold an animal responsible for acting on instinct in its own natural environment. We are the invaders, not them.

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