Zimbabwe’s elephant culling plan stirs debate

Authorities consider mass killing of mammoth mammals to reduce growing numbers, but conservationists warn of risks.

Harare, Zimbabwe – Africa’s elephant population has been dangerously declining – but not in Zimbabwe. Authorities in the southern African country estimate that the number of its mammoth mammals currently stands at slightly more than 100,000 – up from 84,000 in 2014, when the last census was conducted – for a carrying capacity of about 45,000. The surplus has prompted the government in recent weeks to mull the mass killing of elephants – something the country last did in 1988 – as a population-control option in order to protect other wildlife, as well as the country’s vegetation.