| MONDAY,
16 JANUARY 2006: Ten of the world’s leading elephant scientists
will meet in Cape Town this week (January 18) to debate the
future of South Africa’s elephants in the prescence of Minister
Marthinus van Schalkwyk and senior officials of the Department
of Environmental Affairs & Tourism. They have been asked
to demonstrate the scientific evidence in support of or against
a number of contentious propositions such as:
Are there too many elephants?
Are they causing damage to biodiversity?
Is action needed to reduce populations?
Which management options are most appropriate?
Scientists from SANParks have already recommended to the
Minister that elephant populations should be reduced (see
report at www.sanparks.org) through translocation, contraception,
range expansion and culling.
The Elephant Science Round Table arises from the Minister’s
concern that stakeholders have insisted that his policy
guideline should be based on scientific evidence but that
there appears to be little consensus among leading scientists.
“The Minister has said that his final decision would be
based on the available science, ethical and social considerations,
indigenous knowledge, environmental and tourism impacts.
It is therefore important for him to get a good understanding
of the available science and identify knowledge gaps that
need attention,” said JP Louw, Head of Communications at
the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
The Science Round Table follows the Ministerial team hosting
17 local and international stakeholder groups at an indaba
in Cape Town in November.
“Unfortunately a number of elephant specialists who are
based in the US, UK and Australia were not available for
this round table discussion. The Minister is approaching
this issue very cautiously and it is therefore likely that
more scientific dialogue will take place before the draft
policy is published for public comment later this year.”
Panellists for the Elephant Science Round Table in Cape
Town this week are:
PROFESSOR NORMAN OWEN-SMITH - Research Professor in African
Ecology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
PROFESSOR RUDI VAN AARDE - Professor of Zoology and Director
of the Conservation Research Unit in the Faculty of Natural
& Agricultural Science, University of Pretoria.
PROFESSOR GRAHAM KERLEY - Director, Terrestrial Ecology
Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University.
DR HECTOR MAGOME -Head of Research, South African National
Parks
DR IAN WHYTE - Research Manager: Large Herbivores, South
African National Parks.
DR. DAVID CUMMING - Tropical Resource Ecology Programme,
University of Zimbabwe.
BRUCE PAGE - Lecturer in Ecology in the School of Conservation
and Biological Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
PROFESSOR ROB SLOTOW – Professor, School of Conservation
and Biological Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
DR BOB SCHOLES - Systems Ecologist, Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research.
DR BRIAN HUNTLEY (FACILITATOR) – Director, South African
National Biodiversity Institute.
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