When I take a look at the magnificent creatures and read what is to be done to them my heart breaks, readers.
Elephants are very special creatures.
I watched an Animal Planet show on them, and they remember where their herd mates die.
In fact, one died during their journey on the show, and the other elephants had a devil of a time getting the mother to move along.
The narrator even pointed out that the elephants were SHOWING EMOTIONS!!!!
LIFE is PRECIOUS, world!!!
It deserves RESPECT and LOVE, not slaughter!!!!
"by Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times | February 26, 2008
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa said yesterday it would allow the killing of elephants to control their population, a move strongly condemned by animal welfare groups.
Beginning in May, the government will lift a 13-year ban on elephant culls, which are usually carried out by shooting entire herds, including youngsters, from helicopters.
The move could hurt the country's tourist industry, with animal welfare lobbies calling for a tourist boycott to protest the decision.
South Africa slaughtered more than 14,500 elephants from 1967 to 1995, before halting the practice because of global pressure.
"We will allow culling in certain parts of the country. But there is no intention of wholesale slaughter," Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.
The guidelines call for "humane" killing, specifying that a rifle of at least .375 caliber be used. Sharpshooters usually kill entire herds because of the complex social structure of elephants and because young animals need to be taught social behavior by adults in order to survive.
Oh, you mean LIKE HUMANS!!!!!!
I'm getting misty, readers, and that hasn't happened in a while.
Although elephants are endangered in other parts of Africa, the population in South Africa is robust. But the issue of culling is emotional for many people, because of elephants' keen intelligence and elaborate social behaviors. Elephants are known to grieve for their dead.
Yes, I know (as my eyes fill with water)!!!!!!
I watched Animal Planet, and had no idea that ELEPHANTS FEEL EMOTIONS!!
The reaction to a calf that couldn't continue the trek and died had me in tears.
The mother tried to get the baby on its feet with its tusks, but couldn't.
And yet it stayed for hours next to the corpse, until the other elephants had to bray and trumpet her to move on.
Each elephant came over and sniffed the body, saying goodbye.
And even then, the stopping, the looking back, it was difficult to watch.
That's why I have an Animal Cruelty tag.
I am devastated by the treatment of magnificent creatures that are MORE HUMAN and CARING than we are!
There are 18,000 elephants in South Africa, including about 12,500 in Kruger National Park, one of the country's top tourist attractions. SANParks, the government agency in charge of parks and national game reserves, called for culling in a 2005 report to the government, arguing that too many elephants threaten other species.
Same with man, even more so.
Van Schalkwyk said there was also concern about the impact of elephants on the landscape and the livelihoods and safety of people living near the herds.
Before culling, reserve managers will have to prove that they have excess elephants and that killing is the only effective option.
Animal Rights Africa said culling was "cruel and morally reprehensible."
"The latest research has proved that elephants have a sense of self-awareness, placing them in a unique category with great apes, dolphins, and humans," the organization said. "How much like us do elephants have to be before killing them becomes murder?"
Oh, readers, now you know why gorillas are my favorite animal, readers!
In fact, the film is ready to start, so I think I will take a break for some life affirmation.
I suggest you do the same, readers.
Give yourself three hours and connect with your emotions.
Christina Pretorius, a spokeswoman for Cape Town-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, said her group did not believe that other options to culling had been properly examined in Kruger National Park, such as the creation of "transfrontier parks" to allow elephant populations to roam freely from one country to another.
Proponents of transfrontier parks say that as elephant populations wander, season by season, the environment can recover."If humans can't solve a problem, why do we always try to kill it, readers?
I'm ashamed to be human sometimes.
Enjoy the movie this afternoon, readers.
I will.
