African elephant, Loxodonta africana, are the largest extant land animal, and consume huge quantities of vegetation, approximately 1% (dry weight) of their body mass every day (Baxter 2003). They are classified as mega-herbivores, and generally considered the most principal ecosystem engineer, shaping the environment and driving shifts in vegetation (Augustine and Mcnaughton 2004, Kerley and Landman 2006).
Elephants can have a profound impact on woody vegetation through consumption, pushing over or uprooting trees, breaking branches, debarking and during fights for mating rights between bulls or social displays (Smallie and O'connor 2000, Ndibalema et al. 2014). Elephants are bulk-feeders, yet display strong preferences towards particular
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2009). Within wildlife conservation in southern Africa, small, fenced reserves are playing an increasingly large role (Wiseman et al. 2004). This results in restricted movement and year-round utilization of vegetation, thereby magnifying the negative impacts elephant have on vegetation (Van Aarde and Jackson 2007, Loarie et al. 2009). Slotow et al. (2005) analysed elephant populations in small fenced reserves and found that population growth rates were far higher than in large open system, sometimes growing over 15% per year. This is much more than was anticipated when elephants were translocated to many of these small parks, and exacerbates the negative impact these elephant can have (Mackey et al. …show more content…
It was established in 1988, as a sanctuary for traumatized elephants, and provided a home for 6 elephant orphans from the Kruger culls. The elephant were introduced in two phases, the first three in 1993, the last three the following year. Elephant population has been unregulated and the population has grown since the initial introductions. Over time more land was acquired, and the reserve has grown to approximately 7500 hectares. In 2010 the reserve removed the fence between itself and the neighbouring park Ka’Ingo, similar in size and also containing elephant. All the elephant now move throughout the park, observations were primarily made in the half belonging to Mokolo. The reserve is currently home to many of the native animals found in the Waterberg region, and aims to maintain a healthy and sustainable ecosystem. The reserve has a permanent river running through as well as multiple natural and artificial watering
George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a short story that not only shows cultural divides and how they affect our actions, but also how that cultural prejudice may also affect other parties, even if, in this story, that other party may only be an elephant. Orwell shows the play for power between the Burmese and the narrator, a white British police-officer. It shows the severe prejudice between the British who had claimed Burma, and the Burmese who held a deep resentment of the British occupation. Three messages, or three themes, from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” are prejudice, cultural divide, and power.
A police officer in the British Raj, the supposedly 'unbreakable'; ruling force, was afraid. With his gun aimed at a elephant's head, he was faced with the decision to pull the trigger. That officer was George Orwell, and he writes about his experience in his short story, 'Shooting an Elephant';. To save face, he shrugged it off as his desire to 'avoid looking the fool'; (George Orwell, 283). In truth, the atmosphere of fear and pressure overwhelmed him. His inner struggle over the guilt of being involved in the subjugation of a people added to this strain, and he made a decision he would later regret enough to write this story.
African Elephants are considered herbivores, they are both browsers and grazers; they will eat rough sticks, stems and leaves of plants as well as grasses, sedges, and fruit.
South Africa’s ecosystems support an astounding diversity of animal, bird, and marine life. The mild climate, fertile soil, and the fact it lies along the lucrative sea trading route between Europe and Asia...
Just recently, eighteen Swaziland elephants were transported to their new homes in America. This included the Henry Doorly zoo in Nebraska, the Dallas Zoo, and the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas. These elephants were destroying the habitats of other species, and this relocation was specifically made to preserve Swaziland’s endangered rhino population. In gratitude the zoos will “contribute $450,000 to a wildlife conservation trust for rhinos in Swaziland” (Hinckley, par. 2). The result of the transfer produced many opposing views among conservationists. This raised the question of whether or not the elephants (or any animal) should be kept in zoos. This is a widely popular, yet difficult debate of ethical and statistical views. For this case,
Elephants should not be killed because they help the environment. Elephants actually help the environment by acting like a bulldozer and knocking down dead trees that would stand dormant otherwise. Africa does not have the time or money to bulldoze these dead trees that take up land that could be used for some well needed shelter. There are too many homeless people in Africa to have dead trees taking up in some cases large parts of land. Elephants work as construction equipment that Africa does not have the money for. Without these elephants dead trees would take up many miles of that that could be houses sheltering the poor population of Africa.
Cohn, Jeffrey P. "Do Elephants Belong In Zoos?" Bioscience 56.9 (2006): 714-717. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
The "Emaciated Asian Elephant Started Life at Busch Gardens. " N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 12 May 2015.
The African elephant’s range has declined by over 50 percent since 1979 – and their populations are breaking up
World Commission on Protected Areas (1995-2006) WCPA West and Central Africa Region Key Issues The World Conservation Union
“It is estimated to be 50 times more expensive to keep an elephant in a zoo than to protect sufficient natural habitat to sustain that elephant and many other animals.” (CAPS, Sad Eyes & Empty Lives- The reality of zoos) Indeed, only if the billions of dollars that spent on building a zoo are optimized to preserve habitats and animal welfare, can our grandchildren still have a chance to see more rare animals by their own eyes.
In conclusion zoos in America are making attempts to accommodate elephants better, the local Sedgwick county zoo is planning to increase to size of the elephants enclosure. All zoos with elephants should either move them to large sanctuaries or release them back into the wild or even increase the enclosure, but no enclosure will be big enough. The cost to increase the size of orca pools would be too costly. Orcas need to be released back into the wild; the risks of keeping them captive outweigh everything else. Instead of using valuable resources on keeping elephants and orcas captive they should be focused on using the resources on protecting the wild ones and their environments.
The times did a first of its kind analysis of 390 elephant fatalities at accredited U.S. zoos for the past 50 years (Berens 3). It found that most of the elephants died from injury or disease linked to conditions of their captivity from chronic foot problems caused by standing on hard surfaces to musculoskeletal disorders from inactivity caused by being penned or chained for days and weeks at a time. Of the 321 elephant deaths for which The Times had complete records, half were by age 23, more than a quarter before their expected life spans of 50 to 60 years. For every elephant born in a zoo, on average another two die. At that rate, the 288 elephants inside the 78 U.S. zoos could be “demographically extinct” within the next 50 years because there’ll be too few fertile females left to breed, according to zoo industry research (Berens 4).
The dynamic natural environment and abundant wildlife are the most prominent features of the African continent. Due to its wide variety of biomes ranging from tropical forests to arid deserts, Africa consists of bountiful wildlife diversity. However, because of environmentally harmful human interactions, the variety of biomes is shrinking to all-time lows, which causes wildlife to die out. These detrimental human interactions, particularly livestock overgrazing and desertification, occur partly because the native people who depend on the land for daily life do not realize the potential benefits of wildlife and the unsustainability of their current ways. Poaching for horns and other valuable animal parts has also contributed to the decreasing amount of species present in the wild. However, the methods for conserving the wildlife environment differ in how they address the issue of the dwindling wildlife populations. The conventional method of conservation created in the mold of the Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State (also known as the London Convention) involves the complete centralization of wildlife resources to the government. The newer, more effective method called the Sustainable Use Approach makes drastic changes to the London Convention principles by decentralizing ownership of wildlife and allowing small communities and villages to manage it themselves.
... the population of other species. By doing so, we can prevent the extinction of this keystone species as well as the extinction of many other species greatly dependent on the survival of elephants. We have seen examples of species interactions in the habits by providing valuable resources such as food, water, and sunlight. By using their enormous size they have allowed sunlight through the clearing of trees, through their tremendous weight they have created a large hole in the ground with a single footprint large enough to support a small habitat with prey, and, with their sheer tusk strength they are able to dig into dry riverbeds thus providing water. It is necessary to ensure the safety and survival of elephants by creating the proper conservation area without any human intrusions. Furthermore we must cease human encroachment on the elephant habitats in Africa.