Here is what I consider a good read:

http://www.sportsafield.com/co...ng-wildlife-disaster

Enjoy & comment!

Yes it is a good read and should be an eye opener for so many who have no idea what the actual issue is.

An interesting read but what strikes me is that when everybody else sees elephants at risk of being extinct in the near future due to the escalating poaching, this article says that it is the opposite. This immediately tells me that I need more information before I can believe it or spread it...

I think the article is overly optimistic about present numbers. As anyone who has hunted in Africa in the last 2 years can testify, poaching is reducing elephant numbers dramatically. I think we are facing the most serious threat to the existence of the elephant in the last 100 years and the scale of destruction is like nothing experienced before.

I beg to differ gentlemen Read the article and its true for sure
Seen it myself, all the destruction of habitat and impact on other game
They breed more then us ( more off springs)
Culling is politic sucide and trophy ele hunters have no impact on populatin whatsoever
So there you go

First off, the EWB report still hasn't been released, probably because the methodology is highly suspect, if not an outright fraud. How can you determine that Kudu numbers have declined by 80% from an aerial survey?

It's been three years and they still won't release it! Why? Because it's a bogus report - so I wouldn't pay any attention to it (or EWB).

Otherwise, the IUCN, the only reliable (or most reliable, anyway) source of wildlife population data, still has African elephant numbers increasing - but it's a regional thing.

IUCN Red List Status: Loxodonta Africana: HERE.

Range: HERE.

Regional Trends (page 4): HERE.

quote:

Originally posted by Maximus Brutus:
I think the article is overly optimistic about present numbers. As anyone who has hunted in Africa in the last 2 years can testify, poaching is reducing elephant numbers dramatically. I think we are facing the most serious threat to the existence of the elephant in the last 100 years and the scale of destruction is like nothing experienced before.

i take it you have not been to Chobe Nat Park recently. when i transited through there last Oct on the way to the Caprivi Strip, it looked like someone had been working with a bulldozer- massive numbers of dead trees( due to eles knocking them down), massive overall habitat destruction, MASSIVE numbers of elephants and very little numbers of other animals. when you see more elephants in a park than impala, something is serious wrong. like most things, game numbers are area dependent but one thing is for sure-Botswana has more elephants than they know what to do with! can large scale poaching change this- certainly. but where does the money come from to curb poaching???

As mentioned before , Dr Chase from EWB Elephants without Borders categorically stated the decline in wildlife was not due to hunting but to human encroachment , drought , fire . The latest survey done by the DWNP indicates a elephant population of between 212 and 220 000 elephant , the results have been manipulated to justify the closure of hunting even though the survey indicated a decrease in wildlife populations in National Parks and an increase in CHA Controlled Hunting Areas. The argument is irrelevant as the closure has nothing to do with biological science , the anti hunters have influenced decision makers with misinformation and promises that photo tourism can replace hunting and provide more advantages , we all know this is untrue to the extent that it can simply be resolved to call for open tenders/bids and see who offers the most financially , socially , ecologically.

Well said Safaris Botswana Bound. I'm please you quote the true Botswana elephant figures which were not printed in my article. Interestingly, we are feeling the spin-off's of this huge elephant pressure in Namibia as well with elephants now taking up residence on some cattle ranches in the northern parts of the country. The destruction they are causing has to be seen to be believed! Also more and more cow herds are moving into Bushmanland which has always been regarded as an almost exclusively bull area.

This is something that Ron Thomson has spoken of, and written on for years and denied by that IFAW puppet Prof Rudi van Aswegen et al.

Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Read "End of the Game" for a preview of things to come.

Having spent about 10 days in Bots last August, I can tell you that the elephant caused devastation is shocking. One could not go 10 feet without seeing trees the elephants hammered. They are destroying everything.

I'm sorry but I have lost the plot...
Are elephant populations increasing or decreasing and is this locally or on a large scale?
Or is the habitat loss going at a faster rate than the decrease in elephant populations making the pressure on the habitat increase although the populations are decreasing?

I have traveled and hunted in sub-Saharan africa for 20 years. I hunted my first bull Ele in 1998 and have taken multiples of both cows and bulls. I first visited Chobe National Park in 1997 and noted the devastation and large number of Ele present at that time, when 100+ swam across the river as I was out in an aluminum boat.

The ecological havoc wrought by too many Ele must be seen to be believed. The fact that their destruction eliminates habitat for other species becomes readily apparent. Ron Thompson has photos of such before and after riverine environments and he discussed this issue 16 years ago. Apparently few are listening.

I have made the statement that the Botswana ban on hunting and turn to photo safaris only, will, IMO, result in a total degradation of the Okavango delta as we currently recognize it.

I encourage all fans of african hunting to own a copy of Ron Thompson's book Mahohboh. It will provide you with a wealth of info to dispute the anti's. It was originally published in 1997 but a second edition was copyrighted in 2009.

It is my sincerest hope that I will be able to take my now 4 year old grandson to hunt the great beasts of africa some day. I consider the question to be in doubt.

Snowhound please read my article again. Despite what looks like a significant increase in poaching, Southern Africa's (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and northern namibia) elephant population is still increasing at about 5 % per annum. They are causing massive environmental degradation and this is what is impacting on the other species whose numbers are dropping rapidly. This is the message my article is trying to get across. How this helps you find 'the plot'.

quote:

Originally posted by doctari505:
is still increasing at about 5 % per annum

If this is accurate then that is all I needed to know and about the "if", I just realized who the author of the article is...
Thank you sir for your reply!

the 5-6% elephant population rate increase is the generally accepted reproduction rate for elephants.

I've just returned from an elephant/buffalo hunt in the Caprivi. We saw a lot of elephants. I was amazed by the number of downed or damaged trees. Some areas looked like they had been hit by a tornado. Nearly everyday we had to remove a tree or two from the roads. What a lot people don't realize is that an elephant will knock down a big tree just to take a couple bites of the tender green bits off the top of the tree. Then move on to eat something else. We saw one young bull push down a tree just show off to the elephants cows. He didn't even eat anything.

The trees cannot keep pace.

One key question that was hard to understand was why should the destruction of trees, particularly acacia thorn trees, result in the loss of plains animals other than browsers like kudu, black rhino, impala and bus buck. If one looks at the animal populations in the private Olifants game reserve next to the Kruger park there is an inverse relationship between wildebeest and zebra versus elephants. The population of zebs and wildebeest has crashed in Botswana and on a recent trip there we hardly saw any in Moremi but herds of 100 elephants were not uncommon. As Doctari points out in his excellent and timely article the elephants are causal. The reason is that 45percent of an elephants diet, depending on season is grass. If they both destroy trees and grass fodder for other species it is obvious why the population of plains has crashed. I always turn to your articles first Doctari when I get SA. Keep up the good work!