Crisis in Madikwe: Too many elephants or just an excuse to hunt them?

Daily Maverick

12-06-2025

Elephants face a grim future in the Madikwe Game Reserve amid claims that there are too many. The North West Parks and Tourism Board has proposed the imminent culling of 500 elephants and up to 1,200 out of a population of about 1,600 elephants over the next decade.
However, this is a plan that is opaque, onerous and lacking scientific basis.
The 'crisis' erupted in late 2024 when there published claims of ecological collapse in Madikwe, alleging starvation among elephants and unsustainable degradation of habitat. Madikwe experienced a spike in elephant mortalities due to a drought. A total of 75 elephants died during a dry spell, primarily juveniles and older animals. ​
Killing paradox
And this is where the paradox lies. Despite the deaths of 75 elephants, the tourism board's solution is to kill more of them… a lot more. At a recent Parliamentary Committee hearing the board claimed that the population is growing at an average rate of 7.8% per year. The current density is estimated at 2.7 elephants/km², the highest in enclosed areas in South Africa, they say. Overpopulation threatens biodiversity and leads to habitat degradation.
And yet, there is no published scientific data on whether that translates as 'too many' or whether there is indeed a negative impact on Madikwe's biodiversity. In February 2025, the EMS Foundation, sent a Promotion of Access to Information Act request to the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, which oversees the North West Parks and Tourism Board, to provide all scientific and census data for the elephant population in Madikwe, as well as a detailed elephant management plan and which elephant experts they consulted for it. The department never responded.
My own on-site investigation in early 2025 found no evidence of ecological degradation or any lasting impact on other herbivore populations. During the Parliamentary Committee session on Wednesday last week, tourism board officials were unable to answer whether other herbivore populations were also affected by last year's drought. The rains have since arrived and my observations showed healthy populations of all herbivores, including elephants, white and black rhino, zebras, wildebeest and other ungulates. Predator populations also looked healthy.
There was an abundance of cheetahs, lions and wild dogs. My guide was adamant that the elephants had a minimal impact on Madikwe's landscape. The tourism board's Acting Chief Executive, Jonathan Denga, admitted as such, stating: 'The situation improved with the onset of rainfall,' but then hastened to add that 'the need for sustainable management remains critical'.
Non-lethal solutions long ignored
Let's assume there are, in fact, too many elephants. Then why has the North West Parks and Tourism Board not explored other, non-lethal, options for managing the population?
'This is not a sudden crisis,' said Doug Wolhuter, manager of the Wildlife Protection Unit at the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) at the Parliamentary Committee. 'It is the result of decades of inaction. The elephant population did not explode overnight — these animals breed slowly. Every warning sign was ignored.'
Parliamentarians questioned why long-term preventive measures like contraception were denied by the North West Parks and Tourism Board even though they were offered repeatedly for free by Humane World for Animals — in 1998, 2020 and 2023.
Also, a decades-old vision for a regional conservation corridor — connecting Madikwe to Pilanesberg National Park — was mooted but remains stalled due to mining and bureaucratic delays, dashing hopes of restoring ancient elephant migratory routes.
Dr Marion Garai of the IUCN Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, has said that the only way to go for smaller reserves like Madikwe is to open corridors that follow ancient elephant migratory routes.
'Corridors have huge benefits because wildlife can move to different vegetation areas. They can open summer/winter areas and relieve overgrazed vegetation and allow it to recover. It's the most natural pattern for elephants.'
The heart of the matter
This then begs the question, is the tourism board genuinely trying to manage elephant numbers or is there something else at stake?
The tourism board regularly sells hunting packages in at least five nature reserves (Molopo, Bloemhof Dam, SA Lombard, Boskop Dam and Botsalano nature reserves) and also sells culling lots, which can be purchased by professional culling operators. In 2024, the board auctioned the hunting of 873 animals (747 biltong/recreational hunts and 126 trophy hunts) and the culling of a further 2,550 animals. For Madikwe, which does not normally conduct hunts or culls, a tender was issued in May 2025 by the tourism board that proposes the trophy hunting of 25 elephants, two black rhinos and 10 buffalo.
In January this year, a delegation from North West province, led by Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism MEC Bitsa Lenkopane, attended the annual Dallas Safari Club Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Lenkopane participated in discussions with counterparts from Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia 'addressing shared challenges such as the management of burgeoning elephant populations in the region'. She also emphasised that 'the primary objective of attending the Dallas Safari Club Convention is to attract foreign investment in order to revitalise North West province's protected areas network and enhance contribution to South Africa's biodiversity economy'.
This is the heart of the matter. The North West provincial government is looking to boost its revenue from overseas hunters. It is also in line with the national outlook. In South Africa, the scale of hunting operations and the volume of meat and live animals supplied from provincial reserves is significant. Thousands of animals are hunted annually in provincial reserves, or the large quantities of meat derived from culling. Additionally, some provinces are actively selling live game from these reserves to private wildlife farms.
Notably, recent policy documents — the Draft National Biodiversity Strategy (2024) and the Game Meat Strategy (2023) — underline the national government's intent to expand hunting and wild animal use on state land.
Tourism sidelined
The next question is: how does the proposed cull affect photographic tourism? It's unlikely that tourists from the two dozen or so lodges in Madikwe will be thrilled that elephants and other game will be shot right under their noses. Hunting activities are not publicly advertised alongside tourism; instead, they're marketed through specialised hunting platforms. The hidden nature of hunting in publicly funded reserves is likely to undermine trust and could damage South Africa's conservation and ecotourism brand.
Madikwe Game Reserve is one of South Africa's most successful conservation and community-development models. Established in the early 1990s, it transformed degraded farmland into a thriving ecosystem unique in its tripartite model — combining government oversight, private tourism investment, and community partnership. Madikwe promotes high-end, low-impact tourism that directly supports local development. Madikwe stands out for its emphasis on community ownership and inclusion. Several lodges are community run, and the reserve has served as a benchmark for land restitution, job creation and biodiversity recovery.
During the hunting season (in those reserves that offer hunting) the entire reserve gets closed to tourists for obvious reasons. Imagine the revenue loss to those lodges and the communities in and around Madikwe if the reserve is closed for four or five months? It is well known that photographic tourism (photo safaris) generates vastly more revenue than trophy hunting across Africa. In South Africa alone, tourism revenue was $9.5-billion with trophy hunting contributing just $112- million — about 1.2%. It would be a misguided policy if hunting took precedence over photographic tourism.
The situation unfolding in Madikwe is not simply a matter of elephant numbers — it is a test of South Africa's commitment to ethical conservation, scientific integrity, and inclusive governance. As the debate continues, the reserve stands at a crossroads: either deepen its legacy as a model of progressive conservation or allow commercial interests and opaque policy to erode its foundations.