Pete,
All that you have said is true and most of it has been addressed at one time or another on other elephant/African threads. But what I am pointing out is very simple.
The simple fact of the matter is we (we being hunters and conservationists) have been telling the world that unless proper management is put into place that thousands of elephants are going to die either from starvation or they will need to be culled.
They (being bleeding heart soccer moms, animal rights activists and lefties in general) have been doing there level headed best to stop any and all conservation/mangament of elephants because they through diverisve and untrue propoganda have convinced the American public that elephants are on the brink of extinction. And that they are far too nobel an animal to be hunted by mere men.
When in fact the elephants are more numerous in southern africa now than they have been in the last 30 years. Their population is rapidily growing and outstripping the available holding capacity of the land.
The reason that the elephant population is growing at such a rapid rate are two fold. One the international ban on commercial ivory sales. A GOOD THING AND A DESPERATLEY NEEDED THING. Two there was never a proper mangement scheme put into effect to control the growing population of elephants. Or more realistically every time a logical plan to control the population has been introduced it has quickly been quashed by various bambi organizations from around the world.
Now it is to late to manage this precious resource by conventional game mangement techniques. It's time to bring in the machine guns and helicopters.
All of the various antihunting bleeding heart SOB's who've been fighting against the proper management (read hunting) of elephants need to be be rewarded for their time and trouble.
I think we should buy them all a ticket to Zimbabwe so they can accompany a kill team in on a herd of elephants and be there when all that is left standing are the new born calfs griping their dead mother's tail's then you can hand the little leftie bleeding heart a rifle and have them finish the job THEY created.
I love and respect elephants and it pains me to see them shot down by a culling team cows, calfs, bulls the whole family group has to be killed at once or you have serious trouble in the future.
ALL OF THIS COULD have been avoided if only we were allowed to manage them during the last ten years. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
I don't understand why otherwise rational people understand this concept on nearly any other species but when you mention the word elephant their f'ing brains vapor lock...
PS
This rant is not targeted at anyone on this site in particular this is a general public rant....Thank you for your understanding.