Has IFAW Hijacked The South African National Parks Management Policies?

By Dr Salomon Joubert

(This is an excerpt from a longer article, Kruger National Park Elephant Population: Current Situation and Management Considerations.)

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW): in a booklet, Elephants, Facts and Fables, by Prof Rudi van Aarde, it is stated that: “IFAW has partnered with the Conservation Ecology Research Unit (CERU) of the University of Pretoria on a research programme aimed at understanding the dynamics of elephant populations in Southern Africa.

IFAW’s interest in the conservation management of elephants in the region spans more than 15 years. Through dedicated support for research and practical on-the-ground solutions, IFAW aims to promote ethically and scientifically sound solutions to conservation management predicaments related to elephants.”

IFAW is known to be vehemently opposed to culling of elephants.

It appears that Prof Rudi van Aarde was heavily involved in elephant research in the Kruger Park. Questions that arise from his involvement with IFAW and their “dedicated support for research and practical on-the-ground solutions” are the following:

a. To what extent was Prof van Aarde’s research in the Park funded by IFAW?

b. To what extent does IFAW influence the “practical on-the-ground solutions” regarding the management of the Park’s elephant population?

c.  The critical question is: to what extent is the Park now beholden to IFAW?

It also appears that Prof Slotow, of the University of Natal, has a major stake in elephant research (and management?) in the Park.

I do not know Prof Slotow and do not know what the thrust of his research is or to what extent it influences the management of the elephant population. I am, however, informed that he, too, is strongly averse to culling.

Should my perception of Prof Slotow be true, who else other than he and Van Aarde are involved in elephant research in the Park, or has it become the exclusive domain of researchers opposed to culling?

Some of Rudi van Aarde’s views on the Kruger Park’s elephant population are reported in the Winter 2016 edition of SANPark’s Wild magazine and can be compared with the statements attributed to Sam Ferreira which he (Sam) has denied.

One may obviously accept that Van Aarde’s interview was after that of Sam with O’Hara, which was published on 22 November 2014.

Van Aarde’s comments include the following:

• “now the emphasis has shifted to the management of impact rather than elephant numbers.
• Conservation … is about medium and long-term zero growth and sustainable land use patterns.
• Drought and stress-related die-offs of juvenile elephants keep over-all population growth in check (During the discussions referred to above, Sam Ferreira claimed that elephant calves die at the age of weaning). These statements are in direct contradiction to the elephant breeding herd analyses reported by Joubert.
• The current growth rate, lower than two percent, is a major response compared with the past growth rate of 6.5% when culling was the method of managing elephant numbers.
• Over two-thirds of boreholes were closed after 2003 …. As expected, with less available water, more calves and elderly elephants died.
• As elephants moved away, the landscape and vegetation got respite from elephant use and biodiversity benefited.
• Kruger’s elephant population is tending towards stability …

(The late Dr Salomon Joubert was the ex-director of the Kruger National Park in South Africa and spent 40 years in the service.)