Alternative to Culling

Africa: Development of a longer term contraceptive for African elephants may reduce culling pressures

Elephant Care International provides support for research needed to test delivery methods and actual vaccine efficacy in a semi-captive setting in South Africa, and eventually long-term field work in northern Botswana to demonstrate vaccine effectiveness in controlling free-ranging populations of African elephants.

Population Crisis

Overabundance of African elephants is a major conservation and animal welfare problem in parts of Africa because of limited habitat. Vegetation impacts, loss of biodiversity, human-elephant conflict, limited water supplies, and even starvation of elephants themselves are the consequences. What can be done?

Between 1966 and 1994 about 16,000 elephants were culled in the Kruger National Park of South Africa.  Culling has become less publicly acceptable, especially considering elephant social behavior, and translocation is very costly and limited to just a few animals.

Another option

Contraceptive vaccines based on porcine zona pellucida (pZP) proteins have proven safe and effective in controlling reproduction of elephants in game parks. But the current pZP vaccine requires annual boosters, which makes it impractical for broad-scale use in the field.

SpayVac – long lasting, single dose

A long-lasting, single-dose contraceptive vaccine could become a powerful management tool for the non-lethal, humane control of elephant populations. SpayVac is a liposome-based pZP vaccine that has delivered multi-year contraception in several species of deer, seals, and horses. Elephant Care International is supporting researchers who are scheduling field tests in South Africa and Botswana to verify whether this technology will provide long-lasting contraception for African elephants.  Full Brochure here

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