Snapshot Serengeti Talk

Damage/non damage

  • tillydad by tillydad moderator

    I prefer to think more in terms of the #elephants reshaping the landscape rather than damaging it, especially in a place such as the Serengeti.

    Whilst it may be true that in some small reserves and parks they cause damage this is only because the natural range of those elephant populations has been severely curtailed. In areas where the resident elephants have a larger range they are actually beneficial in helping to create a more diverse range of habitats that is beneficial to other species. They help to create waterholes, remove thick cover, thin wooded areas and create more pastures (amongst other things).

    If left to their own devices the overall impact can be spectacular, as can be witnessed in the larger reserves throughout sub-Saharan Africa.It tends to be the case that it is only when the elephants are confined to smaller areas and their population is too large for these areas that the elephant behaviour could be considered detrimental and damaging.

    For countless millenia the elephants helped to shape the landscape and this allowed them and other species to thrive. It is only in the last 100 years or so that problems have arisen, and that is due entirely to man trying to control elephants and other species by creating reserves and parks without fully understanding the ecosystems and behaviour patterns of animals within them.

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