By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Zimbabwe is considering the mass killing of elephants, for the first time since 1988 to reduce the 100,000 strong population of the animals.
This process is known as culling, NatureNews reports.
For livestock and wildlife, culling often refers to the act of killing removed animals based on their individual characteristics, such as their sex or species membership, or as a means of preventing infectious disease transmission.
Zimbabwe killed more than 50,000 elephants when it carried out culling on five occasions between 1965 and 1988, according to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
The government of Zimbabwe, which has the world’s second-largest population of elephants after neighboring Botswana, maintains that the large number of the animals is leading to destruction of habitat needed by other species and an increasing number of dangerous human-elephant interactions.
Adult elephants can eat 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of vegetation a day and often strip bark from trees, killing them.
Uganda, Zambia and South Africa have also culled elephants in the past.
When elephants are culled family groups, or herds, are shot in their entirety to prevent post traumatic stress for surviving animals.
“The only way to manage elephant populations by culling is to take out entire herds,” said Rob Lurie, chairman of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association.
“It’s not an easy task and would require a lot of manpower and financing to be done correctly.”
Other methods of population control include contraception and translocation.
However, the Parks Authority said, “It’s an option but not a decision yet,”
“We will obviously rely on scientific advice.”
The southern African nation is undergoing a review of its Parks and Wildlife Act to collate views on how to better manage its wildlife resources.