Namibia's game count begins
12/06/2008 10:10 - (SA)


Windhoek - The world's largest land-based game count began on Wednesday across a huge swath of northwestern Namibia, according to World Wildlife Fund officials who organised the count.

The annual animal census, funded by the US Agency for International Development, comes as the American agency announces that it is ending conservation funding in Namibia. A US government official declined to say why the funding was being cut off a year earlier than scheduled.

Wildlife in Namibia has increased since the US agency began funding community conservation programmes in 1993. To date, the United States has given $41.6m to programmes to help people to care for natural resources and benefit from the tourism generated.

"Only a few years ago, local people viewed wildlife only as competitors for food with their goats and other livestock and as potential dangers," said World Wildlife spokesperson Chris Weaver. "But all that has now changed."

Weaver, whose organisation manages the US funds, said the conservation programmes allowed animal species to flourish and made poaching "virtually extinct".

Weaver said conservation efforts since 1995 have increased Namibia's lion population from 30 to 130, dramatically increased the number of cheetahs, and nearly doubled Namibia's black rhino population. Namibia had about 7 500 elephants in 1995, but now it has 26 000, he said.

Teams of game scouts, conservationists and scientists expect to find an even higher number this year.

While elephants in southern Africa were once scarce, they have made an impressive comeback. In November, the South African government reversed a 13-year ban on elephant culling - the government-sanctioned killing of elephants under specified conditions - to help control the population.

Besides conserving wildlife, the US-funded programmes in Namibia generated income from tourism, and created 946 permanent and 6 200 part-time jobs, Weaver said.

Namibia's census will track numbers of elephants, lion, cheetah, rhino, oryx and giraffes, mountain zebras and springbok, Weaver said.

The survey covers 6 474 970 hectares of wildlife reserves, including a national park placed in a dramatic but harsh environment with towering mountains and rocky mesas, Weaver said.

US officials plan to announce the cancellation of funds in Windhoek on Thursday. US government spokesperson Raymond Castillo would not comment on why the funding was being cut, but said the programme had been tremendously successful.

Did't the culling in SA ever happen or is it scheduled for the future?

Brett,

Elephant culling 'unnecessary'

June 12 2008 at 09:32AM

Elephant culling at the Kruger National Park is unnecessary and not a last option, the Earth organisation said on Wednesday.

Founder of the group, Lawrence Anthony, said the assertion that culling was only a last option was a method cleverly designed to try to sell the slaughter to an unwilling public.

"The decision to cull is based on emotion. Credible science demonstrates that the cull is unnecessary.

"The public is being asked to accept an unpopular decision which has no support among respected scientists. This decision would bring our internationally respected standards of animal husbandry into disrepute," he said.

Professor John Skinner, former head of the Mammal Research Institute at the Pretoria university, said there was not a shred of evidence that the elephants in the Kruger National Park or elsewhere adversely affected ecosystems.

Other scientists, including Dr Ian Raper, president of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, remain opposed to culling.

"Based on studies from across Africa we conclude that science does not provide satisfactory evidence that elephants have a lasting negative effect on either animals or plants.

"It's not true that culling reduces numbers. So what purpose does it serve?" said Raper.

Scientists agreed that the many thousand traumatised elephants that escaped death would be a danger to the millions of visitors to the Kruger National Park.

"With the huge international media interest in this matter, if just one tourist is killed or harmed by a traumatised elephant during the cull, our priceless eco-tourism industry will pay a heavy price."

I wonder how many "Traumatised Elephants" did kill, injure or chase away visitors prior to the stopping of the culls ?

Are these guys telling me my life was in danger when we visited the Kruger when I was small/young in the 80's !