26 June 2009
Maputo — The International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has authorised an increase in the number of elephants Mozambique is allowed to kill from 40 to 60 per year.
Agriculture Minister Soares Nhaca told AIM that he welcomed this increase, since it will make it somewhat easier for the government to manage conflicts between wild life and humans. Elephants in particular can have a devastating impact on crops.
Nhaca said the government can now, with CITES approval, shoot problem animals, and because this culling is authorised, the trophies can be legally exported.
"The decision also means that we can increase the government's capacity to train wardens for various parks and wild life reserves", he added.
A further measure taken to try and keep wild life and people apart is to fence elephant migration routes. According to Tourism Minister Fernando Sumbana, work is now under way to build fencing along the elephant migration corridor that leads to the Maputo Special Reserve in the far south of the country. He expected the work to be finished this year.
A similar strategy is being tried in the far north of the country, to keep the animals of the Quirimbas National Park out of the fields of local farmers. Here community hunters have been trained to protect people living near the park.
Of all the country's large animals, the one responsible for most human deaths is certainly the crocodile. The government plans to fence off certain river areas, so that people can fetch water there without the risk of a crocodile attack.
The strategy also envisages selected shooting of crocodiles, and the collection of crocodile eggs (which can then be incubated in crocodile farms).
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Legally permitting selected shooting/ killing of elephants is far, far humane than keeping them shackled for life, like what is being done in Punnathur Anakkota, Kerala, India. This Kotta houses the largest number of elephants in private possession, on this planet, Earth! More than 60 elephants are kept tied to their two diagonally opposite legs to prevent them from moving around - there is hardly any place to move around there for these 60+ animals. A Google or Picasa web-album search for Punnathur Anakkota will give a good picture of the plight of those hapless creatures. Culling is far, far Humane! NB Nair.