Hi

Here are some pictures of elephants taken at Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa which is in the Nort of the country close to Botswana. Elephants are a real problem at Madikwe. They have gone from being endangered to being very successful. The reserve can sustain about 600 animals and they have 900. Elephants eat about 2 tonnes of food a day in the form of grass, plants and trees. They uproot whole trees but only uproot part of them. At Kruger Park where they have the same overstocking problem they have carried out a study over 7 years which shows that overstocking has a negative impact on other animals in the park. They have been given permission to cull their stock each year. The effect of culling is being studied over a 5 year period and if it is non detrimental on the environment, culling will be allowed at other parks. Having seen the havoc caused by elephants on tree life I believe overstocking of elephants is not sustainable.

I often have come across elephants caked in mud as some of these are. The elephants do this to control parasites. The parasites are trapped and suffocated by the mud as it dries on the elephant’s skin. The then rubs itself against a tree to get rid of the parasites.