Introduction

    The debate over the fate of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) has been raging for decades.  First living in stable populations, then rapidly hunted to near extinction and now benefiting from strict protection, the total population of this species has fluctuated widely over a short span of time.  Currently, elephant herds in some parts of Africa are out-growing the area of land that is available to them.  As human populations also grow, elephants and people are coming into conflict ever more frequently.  What is the best way to deal with these two interrelated problems?  Enter the international environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), particularly the animal rights movement.  The question, then, is not only about how best to manage growing elephant populations, a complex enough issue on its own, but also what is the right of these Northern-based international NGOs to attempt to determine these management strategies for the people and wildlife of the South.

Background

    The story begins in the 1970s and '80s when hundreds of thousands of African elephants were slaughtered for their ivory.  It is estimated that between 1981 and 1989 the total population was cut in half - from 1.2 million to 620,000.  Predictions were that the species would be extinct by 2010 if nothing was done to stop the killing (Sugal 1997, 20).  Something was done and in 1986 the international community adopted a quota system under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) that restricted the quantity of tusks that could be traded.  The regulation was largely ineffective, however, and populations continued to decline as the quota was consistently exceeded (Sugal 1997, 21).

    In 1989, several African nations, including Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, along with the international environmental movement successfully lobbied to have the African elephant upgraded from Appendix II of CITES (which regulated the trade in elephant goods) to Appendix I which afforded the species the highest level of international protection possible and banned the international trade in elephant products (Hecox 1996). 

    The ban has been successful, too successful some would say.  After 1989, the price of ivory quickly dropped and the number of poached elephants was greatly reduced (Sugal 1997, 21).  Now, after ten years of strict protection, elephant populations are on the rebound.  Actually, to be more accurate, they are unstable.  In some parts of Africa herds are not large enough to maintain a viable population.  In other parts of the continent, particularly the protected areas, elephant herds are too big and are beginning to destroy the property of their human neighbours as well as their own habitat, affecting not only themselves but also the other species around them (Sugal 1997, 18).

    In the past, elephants used to roam across huge expanses of land.  They migrated in search of food and water and in the process of sustaining themselves, they would open gaps in the forest, convert woodlands to grasslands and generally alter the ecosystem in ways that made it suitable for other organisms.  When the food and water ran out, they moved on.  "As they ate their way across the landscape, some of them would have found themselves stranded by their own appetites, too far from any newly regenerated forage, and would have died from starvation.  But that also meant they had ranged far enough to let the land they had left behind them regenerate" (Sugal 1997, 19).  Urbanization, agriculture and other facets of development have changed this system.  Where elephants are confined to parks and reserves they are often provided with a constant supply of water.  Not only does this eliminate a natural method of population control but it can also lead to rapid population growth.  Elephants will continue to breed as long as there is enough food and water (Sugal 1997, 19).  The continuous successful reproduction has meant that elephant population densities in some parks exceed the capability of the land to support their forage needs.  An example of the degradation that can occur when there are too many elephants comes from West Africa's 'W' National Park:

the continued presence of large numbers of elephants that gather at the Tapoa River throughout the dry season has altered the ecosystem dramatically in only a decade.  More elephants have led to fewer trees, and this, combined with increased grass production as more sunlight penetrates once forested areas, has transformed a complex and varied riverine forest into a simplified grassland community.  Birds and other species that once inhabited the forests along the river have disappeared (Taylor 1997).

There are two potential consequences when there are too many elephants and too little land.  As food becomes scarce elephants are more likely to move in search of new sources than stay and degrade what little remains where they are.  In years past this was not a problem as few people lived around the parks.  Today, however, growing human populations require ever larger amounts of land and the woodlands outside the protected areas that were elephant habitat are increasingly being converted into fields for agricultural production to support these people.  This either restricts elephant movement to the point where they must degrade their habitat, or the elephants migrate anyway and come into conflict with people.  Usually, the people lose (Taylor 1997, Sugal 1997).

    Not all elephants live within parks and reserves, however.  In fact, nearly 80% of the species' remaining range lies outside protected areas (Taylor 1997).  Herds in this rangeland must migrate to survive and they too come into conflict with people.  Human population growth as well as changes in lifestyle are factors here.  "As Africa's human population grows, marginal semiarid rangelands are being converted to agriculture.  This, combined with a trend away from a nomadic existence toward permanent settlement, exacerbated the stresses between people and elephants" (Taylor 1997).

    Examples of elephant-human conflicts abound.  "Elephants … routinely destroy crops, break water pipes, damage houses, and break trees, dams, trenches and fences … In addition, in 1991, elephants [in Kenya] were responsible for nine deaths and three critical injuries in the month of June alone" (Hecox 1996).  "In 1995, … villagers living near Zambia's Bangweulu Swamp wildlife preserve nearly starved after elephants from the park began trampling the farmers and destroying crops" (Sugal 1997, 18).  According to Taylor (1997), "stories of people being killed by elephants have become a regular feature of Africa's daily papers."  The people directly affected are making increasingly vociferous complaints to their governments to remedy the situation (Taylor 1997).