Elephant breeding controlled

THE elephant herds of Thula Thula Private Game Reserve at Ntambanana were again in the news as a bull elephant contraception programme was launched.

The herd gained world fame when late conservationist, Lawrence Anthony, the reserves’s owner, wrote the best-selling book ‘The Elephant Whisperer’.

Having arrived at Thula Thula as ‘seven doomed delinquents’, Anthony succeeded in befriending and controlling the herd, whose population has now grown to 24.

A record three calves were born in 2012 alone and keeping the numbers in check to ensure a healthy eco-system within the reserve is of paramount importance to Lawrence’s widow, Francoise.

With the reserve unable to sustain the expanding herd, and relocating and culling not considered as options, controlling the numbers through reversible contraception is being implemented.

The contraception project is being conducted in conjunction with veterinarian Mike Toft and wildlife consultant David Bozas.

This medical intervention has already proved successful in reducing an aggressive male’s abnormally high testosterone levels, which has saved the bull from being euthanised.

‘If we can intervene while still preserving the elephants’ lives, we will have fulfilled Lawrence’s legacy.

‘He believed all animals had a right to life and we will carry this forward,’ said Francoise.

Thula Thula has two dominant bulls, Gobisa (37) and Mabula (24), and two young bulls, Ilanga (13) and Mandla (17), who have not yet come into musth.

The steroid-based vaccine for bull elephants, administered by dart from a helicopter and requiring an annual booster, is relatively cheap and readily available.

The contraceptive effects are reversible and have no adverse impact on elephant health or behaviour.

The highest dose has been shown to not only totally block musth behaviour, but the subsequent musth did not occur until the normal time in the following season.

This illustrates that it is possible to control the complete annual cycle with a single treatment.