Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- About the authors and contributors
- List of reviewers
- Acronyms and abbreviations
- Preface
- Summary for policymakers
- Chapter 1 The elephant in South Africa: history and distribution
- Chapter 2 Elephant population biology and ecology
- Chapter 3 Effects of elephants on ecosystems and biodiversity
- Chapter 4 Interactions between elephants and people
- Chapter 5 Elephant translocation
- Chapter 6 Reproductive control of elephants
- Chapter 7 Controlling the distribution of elephants
- Chapter 8 Lethal management of elephants
- Chapter 9 Ethical considerations in elephant management
- Chapter 10 The economic value of elephants
- Chapter 11 National and international law
- Chapter 12 Towards integrated decision making for elephant management
- Glossary
- Index
Chapter 1 - The elephant in South Africa: history and distribution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 June 2019
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- About the authors and contributors
- List of reviewers
- Acronyms and abbreviations
- Preface
- Summary for policymakers
- Chapter 1 The elephant in South Africa: history and distribution
- Chapter 2 Elephant population biology and ecology
- Chapter 3 Effects of elephants on ecosystems and biodiversity
- Chapter 4 Interactions between elephants and people
- Chapter 5 Elephant translocation
- Chapter 6 Reproductive control of elephants
- Chapter 7 Controlling the distribution of elephants
- Chapter 8 Lethal management of elephants
- Chapter 9 Ethical considerations in elephant management
- Chapter 10 The economic value of elephants
- Chapter 11 National and international law
- Chapter 12 Towards integrated decision making for elephant management
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
So geographers, in Afric maps,
With savage pictures fill their gaps;
And o'er unhabitable downs
Place elephants for want of towns.
On Poetry: A Rhapsody
THESE LINES by Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) are often quoted as a satire on the cartography of the age. However, they also contain three observations about the elephant populations of Africa that illuminate aspects of elephant distribution and human–elephant contact and that continue to influence elephant management. The first is that elephants are the iconic and most charismatic mammals of Africa – indeed, its very symbol. In a continent renowned for its megafauna and wealth of raw materials, elephants and their ivory hold premier positions. The second observation is that elephants were once very widely distributed on the African continent, occurring wherever there was suitable habitat, while the third is that where large settled concentrations of humans occur, one will find either no elephants or very few.
This chapter considers the shifting economic and political dynamics, value systems and technologies that have impacted on Africa's elephant populations, with detailed attention being given to South Africa. It explains how the current (2006) presence of the African elephant Loxodonta africana indicates that it was once abundant throughout the continent in suitable habitat. While the process of the dramatic decline in elephant range and numbers did not play out in the same way throughout Africa, as far as South Africa is concerned it was accelerated in the nineteenth century by a growing market for ivory and by significant habitat transformation within a modern state. By the early twentieth century the once large elephant population in the region had been virtually exterminated except for a few small relict populations in remote localities. In the later twentieth century, however, owing to a combination of factors that are outlined below, an elephant population that is highly restricted to limited areas (relative to pre-colonial distribution) in South Africa has undergone a period of sustained growth. Since its near-extinction in the region owing to hunting and dense human settlement and rural land exploitation, elephant population growth is rebounding in strictly protected preserves and being manipulated through intensive management and translocations.
- Type
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- Information
- Elephant ManagementA Scientific Assessment for South Africa, pp. 23 - 83Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2008