http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7262951.stm
Old news...
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0408/excerpt4.html
Some of these animal rights groups are starting to sound like kids, who've been refused a toy at the local fair. If we didn't have so many people, we wouldn't need as much land. And if we didn't need as much land, there will be more land for wild animals to roam and, therefore, less chances of conflicts occurring between humans and wild animals. But it is a little too late to lament the high population of humans. We cannot cull humans. So it will have to be big animals instead. Why? Leaving them as they are would mean the extinction of smaller animals that compete for food and space with those bigger animals in the same habitat...the habitat that is being increasingly used by humans. And, yeah, I am quite sure hunting would be the primary means of culling. The culled animals will feed 100s of human mouths in Africa. I feel really bad for those forestry officials who care more about these animals than anyone else. They are always being bad-mouthed. I am quite sure that some have their jobs only for material reasons. But I am also equally sure that a lot of them do their jobs because they are passionate and trust no one else to take care of what is out there.
Taxi to the Dark Side (2007).
In a statement anticipating the announcement (of the cull), one of the animal rights groups has asked, "How much like us do elephants have to be before killing them becomes murder?"
My answer: "Easy. When human civil liberties and rights are applicable to elephants then, yeah, culling becomes murder. But I hardly think that I will see that happen in my lifetime--just watch Taxi to the Dark Side to see what I mean. We have enough issues amongst major groups of humans, as it is. Until then, know the difference between sentiment and reality!"
