Question

M8 Writing Analysis

There is a decline in the elephant population in a specific area in Africa. You are an activist trying increase the elephant population. You are required to present a proposed solution to this problem. Create a proposal to solve this elephant problem. Please include the following:

Background Information. (Describe the main biome where elephants are located; describe an ecosystem, and describe 4 other types of biomes)

Name and discuss how elephants are threatened in Africa. (Research)

Discuss how biodiversity can affect the increase and decline of the elephant population.

Differentiate between the types of population growth models that can increase or decrease the elephant population.

Discuss how community populations relate to your proposal.

IMPORTANT: Additional resources are welcomed for more support, but the grade associated with the information from the book designated for this class will be the measurement tool to assess your paper.

Answer 1

The African Elephant is a vulnerable species, South African national parks and reserves have started exceeding their elephant carrying capacities. Management techniques of the elephant population are required to maintain the delicate balance of the savannah ecosystem. Many different options are available, one of which is elephant contraception.

Elephants are highly intelligent animals and display complex social and emotional responses, which include grieving for their dead. Their social hierarchies depend upon a matriarch elephant which leads, protects, and teaches younger females how to raise their young. Elephant communication systems are considered to be more extensive than humans can understand.
Many reserves in South Africa are experiencing a boom in elephant populations, which could become an “elephant problem”.Elephants can cause major environmental damage by uprooting trees and eating tons of foliage, thus overpopulation threatens the balance of the surrounding ecosystem. While this population increase may be a positive trend in terms of the poaching activity across Africa, it poses a challenge for fenced-in areas such as national parks and reserves where populations must be carefully monitored due to the limited space and resources.

Managers of the national parks and reserves must now institute elephant population management techniques. Some of these approaches include culling, translocation, or contraception In the past, culling was seen as a negative strategy for management, because it requires park rangers to gun down entire herds of elephants with automatic weapons from a helicopter. The rangers target entire herds because killing only some of the members would cause turmoil in the herd, causing infants to die, and the remaining females may scatter.Another option is translocation, or moving elephants from an area of higher population density to one of lower population density. This is a timely and costly venture as elephants are difficult to immobilize and transport. In addition, bulls have been known to trample over fence lines and travel hundreds of miles just to get back to where they came from, rendering translocation completely useless. Also, research suggests that interfering with social interactions and introducing foreign elephants into an area can cause significant increases in defensive behavior and social turmoil.

Contraception is an increasingly enticing option for conservationists trying to control elephant populations and maintain a balanced savannah ecosystem. The most viable option is referred to as immunocontraception, a form of reducing births via vaccination of female elephants using porcine zona pellucida (pZP). However, concerns exist about the side effects of the vaccine and how it could affect mating behavior and herd structure. There is also a heavy cost involved with immunocontraception, as conservation managers must acquire the vaccines as well as the means to dispense them. Conservation managers must have access to helicopters, dart guns, and crew to properly administer the vaccines. Despite the logistics involved, contraception is extremely effective. The population growth is expected to be reduced to near 50%.7 A 2007 study conducted in the Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve in South Africa concluded that immunocontraception was a realistic, cost-effective management strategy for the African elephant population. Immunocontraception also minimized stress on the elephants. Another recent study demonstrated that immunocontraception was effective in reducing the number of calf births, and did not cause any significant behavioral, social, spatial, or resource changes over an 11-year study period.
In conclusion, contraception that targets female elephants seems like the most viable option for controlling the elephant populations. Alternating treatments in certain females would be necessary to maximize genetic diversity while still decreasing elephant birth rates. Unfortunately, humans have had a detrimental effect on African wildlife by pushing them out of their habitats and limiting their space and resources. The next best option to giving back the elephants’ roaming ground is to help control their population growth by the least invasive and most humane way possible.11 Immunocontraception is arguably the best option we have for addressing this issue in the most cost-effective and least-damaging manner to elephants and their environment. Further research is necessary to improve this management strategy and ensure it is being conducted with minimal detrimental effects on the African Elephant population.