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North West officials evade responsibility for Madikwe elephant crisis, say MPs


By Don Pinnock Follow 11 Jun 2025

More than 1,000 starving elephants may have to be culled. Parliamentarians demand answers by tomorrow (Friday).
In a scathing parliamentary session on Tuesday, 10 June members of the Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment accused North West officials of gross mismanagement and evasion of responsibility for the ongoing elephant crisis in the Madikwe Game Reserve.

The crisis, years in the making, has led to mass starvation and death among elephants, extensive environmental degradation and a controversial proposal to cull as many as 1,200 of them.

The most damning testimony came from Douglas Wolhurter, manager of the Wildlife Protection Unit at the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA), whose presentation laid bare a catalogue of failings by the North West Parks and Tourism Board (NWPTB) and the provincial Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism.

“This is not a sudden crisis,” Wolhurter told the committee. “It is the result of decades of inaction. The elephant population did not explode overnight – these animals breed slowly. Every warning sign was ignored.”



According to the NSPCA, Madikwe Game Reserve now holds more than 1,600 elephants – more than triple the reserve’s original carrying capacity of 500, and more than six times the 250-elephant maximum suggested by early management plans. The consequence has been catastrophic: at least 70 elephants have died of starvation since August 2024, with many more in advanced stages of malnutrition.


The NSPCA documented suffering animals and dead elephants whose tusks had not been removed or logged in accordance with the law – a breach of the Animals Protection Act and TOPS (Threatened or Protected Species) regulations.

Wolhurter’s presentation triggered a sharp reaction from members of the committee.

“This is probably one of the most shocking presentations I’ve seen,” said DA MP Andrew de Blocq. “It’s absolute neglect. What concrete actions have been taken to hold the board and management accountable for what they themselves admit is severe mismanagement?”

Questions by a number of parliamentarians cut to the heart of the crisis: why were long-term preventative measures like immunocontraception denied by NWPTB even though they were offered repeatedly for free by the Humane World for Animals – in 1998, 2020 and 2023?

Why were the NSPCA, despite their legal mandate under the Animals Protection Act, excluded from the second and subsequent meetings of the provincial task team overseeing the crisis response? Why has no independent investigation been launched?

The North West response was weak at best.


Jonathan Denga, acting CEO of the NWPTB, confirmed that the province had known about the issue for years but offered no justification for the failure to act. “Yes, the elephant population is a serious problem,” Denga said. “But many of the management options have been exhausted. We are trying to bring balance.”


Pressed by a number of MPs, Denga and NWPTB chairperson Khorommbi Matibe admitted that the NSPCA had not been invited to the task team as promised and gave no timeline for actual action. “Unfortunately, we were not privy to the NSPCA’s presentation beforehand,” said Matibe. “We need time to study it before responding in detail.”

That response drew a sharp rebuke from committee chairperson Nqabisa Gantsho, who issued a stern directive: “You have three days to respond. We expect answers by Friday, June 13.”

Wolhurter had previously noted that even though a draft culling plan was shared with the NSPCA in December 2024, the organisation had received no formal updates or invitations to task team meetings since then. “We were told we’d be included as key stakeholders,” he said, “but that never happened.”

Meanwhile, public scrutiny is intensifying. A tender issued in May by the NWPTB proposes the trophy hunting of 25 elephants, two black rhinos and 10 buffalo in Madikwe – a move widely condemned by conservationists and tourism operators, who say it risks damaging the reserve’s reputation and undermining non-lethal wildlife management strategies.

The North West Parks tender to buy hunting and culling ‘packages’ for Madikwe game reduction.

Although sold as a “game reduction” strategy, critics argue that the tender was rushed, non-transparent and economically motivated. “This is a reputational nightmare,” one lodge operator said anonymously. “Tourism partners were not even consulted before this tender was issued.”


Scientific assessments presented by the NWPTB and echoed by Wolhurter confirm that the elephant density in Madikwe – at 2.7 animals per square kilometre – is likely to be the highest of any enclosed reserve in South Africa. In contrast, the average for state-run reserves is just 0.79 elephants per square kilometre.

While all sides agree that the current population is unsustainable, the divergence lies in how to respond. The NSPCA has called for immediate inclusion in the task team, independent oversight of any culling process and long-term ecological restoration – beginning with invasive species removal and veld recovery.

But even the basics are missing. “We’re still waiting for a detailed ecological restoration plan,” De Blocq pointed out. “There is nothing measurable in place to rehabilitate the veld or ensure that the reserve can sustain its intended population.”

In closing, Gantsho didn’t mince her words: “This is a matter of urgency. We have seen suffering animals. We have seen death. We have seen degradation. The time for delays is over.”

This week will reveal whether North West can rise to the occasion – or continue evading accountability. DM

https://africageographic.com/s...phant-rhino-buffalo/


Link to Tender Invitation.

We went to Pilanesburg numerous times and to Madikwe once while recently living in South Africa for 18 months. They're both popular tourist game viewing destinations. Madikwe is what I would refer to as a poor man's 'Okavanga Delta' experience (minus the Delta's waters)-pricey, with luxurious lodges, excellent food, accomodations and significant game viewing including the big five. Eles have done extensive damage. Pilanesburg is more for the common man or groups, can be done in one full (long) day, not so upscale, but has a ton of eles that are often found all over the roadways in groups. There's definitely too many there and they are very cheeky at times, resulting in a couple of deaths in recent memory. Not sure that hunting/culling in either would work, unless you closed down both for a week to cull/remove. You'd have the tourism operators screaming bloody hell, however. I think that officials may have waited too long to address the issue and take action. It's a sticky problem with no easy answer that would result in a positive outcome for all.

I visited Madikwe in 2018 and the damage and over population was right there to see for anyone to see who has a basic understanding of conservation of the eco system.

The animal right activists and the NGO that support them bear at least 50% of the responsibility this crisis. Any time one of the parks has mentioned culling the herd to the carrying capacity and maintaining those numbers all hell breaks loose. First and foremost is maintaining the eco system.When the numbers get this badly skewed you have destroyed the whole system and if you implement solid science based game and eco system management. It will take 25-40 years for madikwe to recover with proper management.And you get animals starving because of it. The elephants are the big draw and what all the bleeding hearts want to talk about but due to their damage go out for yourself and take a hard look at the PG and see how bad their numbers are. All the things in the eco system from the soil to the animals have to be kept in balance. So until the governments are willing to do the hard work and keep numbers in balance and accept the whining and threats from the NGO's that do nothing to really help you are going to have this problem. also News flash is the Kruger is on its way to the same problem set.

https://www.tourismupdate.com/...d-looms-over-madikwe


Trophy hunting cloud looms over Madikwe
Yesterday - By Dale Hes


Fears are growing around the potential relaunch of trophy hunting in the North West province’s Madikwe Game Reserve – a move stakeholders say will deal a devastating blow to the reserve’s thriving eco-tourism industry.

The concerns stem from a bid proposal tender document, posted by the North West Parks and Tourism Board (NWPTB) on social media in May but since removed, for the hunting of wildlife including 25 elephant, two black rhino and 10 buffalo.


Meanwhile, a turnaround strategy announced by the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT) MEC Bitsa Lenkopane on June 19 proposed measures that included regulated trophy hunting, in addition to contraception, and selective culling of “animals with health deficiencies” as a solution to an overpopulation of elephants in Madikwe.

A lodge owner in the reserve, who spoke to Tourism Update on condition of anonymity, said Madikwe’s 33 safari lodges generate approximately R1 billion (€47.8 million) in annual revenue and create hundreds of jobs for communities.

“By contrast, trophy hunting would bring in approximately R5 million (€239 000) to R7 million (€335 000) per year while simultaneously dealing a devasting blow to the photographic tourism sector,” the lodge owner said.

Michele Pickover, Executive Director of the EMS Foundation, emphasised her belief that the provincial government is heavily influenced by the hunting industry.

“They are pushing short-term monetary incentives based on consumptive use at the expense of eco-tourism,” she said.

The DEDECT did not respond to Tourism Update’s enquiries about reintroducing trophy hunting at Madikwe.

Elephant quandary reaches boiling point

Controversy has swirled around failure of the NWPTB and DEDECT to implement an effective elephant population management plan in the 75 000 hectare fenced reserve. Elephant numbers in Madikwe have ballooned to over 1 600 –more than three times the optimal population of 500.

North West conservation officials were hauled over the coals in the provincial legislature on June 10 due to the situation. This after the National Council of SPCAs drew attention to the starvation of 75 elephants during a multi-year drought that ended with the return of seasonal rains early this year.

Pickover said the EMS Foundation conducted its own research at Madikwe in February as it did not buy into narratives from some quarters on the extent of ecological degradation and loss of wildlife as a result of the drought.

“In February 2025, the seasonal rains had arrived and the bush was lush, and there was no evidence of ecological devastation or starving elephants or other large herbivores at Madikwe.”

Pickover alleged that exaggerated narratives are being pushed by organisations such as the Sustainable Use Coalition Southern Africa (SUCo-SA), which described Madikwe in December as “a barren wasteland struck by a nuclear bomb where vegetation has been decimated, biodiversity is collapsing and animals are perishing due to starvation.”

“SUCo-SA is a pro trophy hunting and pro-wildlife trade coalition and appears to support the agriculturalisation of biodiversity,” said Pickover.

The EMS Foundation sent a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to DEDECT subsequent to its Madikwe visit, asking for detailed information on the reserve’s elephant population and elephant management plan.

“To date, in non-compliance with the provisions of PAIA, no response has been received. Indeed, the department is a serial violator of PAIA as several of our PAIA requests in the past few years have received the same treatment,” Pickover said.