Free-roaming animals, killing, and suffering : The case of African elephants

Kurzfassung/Abstract

The question of elephant ‘management’, presented here as epitomizing the conflicts of interests between human beings and free-ranging animals, is widely regarded as one of the more intractable problems on the African continent. Generally valued as magnificent and among the most intelligent members of the continent’s population of free-roaming animals, admired by Africans and foreign tourists alike, elephants are also considered to be among the most problematic in that they have a substantial impact on their environment. What makes the issue of ‘culling’ – or ‘legal’ (that is, government-controlled) killing for purposes of population management – different from cases of abuse and cruelty is that culling is characteristically seen to require justification, whether in terms of resources, health, welfare or interests. Such a defence, which is characteristically not forthcoming in instances of abuse and cruelty, may assume several forms, or combinations of the following considerations: cultural, scientific, economic, and/or moral. Confronting advocates of culling on their home territory, this chapter argues that – just as it is morally reprehensible as a means towards curbing human overpopulation and human environmental degradation – culling is impermissible in the case of non-human animals, especially in cases where these animals (in the present case, elephants) are relevantly similar to human beings.