The elephant(s) in the room:

The rapid growth of these giants has sparked debate over population control measures.

- By Tony Carnie

It seems bizarre to be talking about killing or curbing the growth rate of Africa's elephants considering that they were listed as "endangered" barely a decade ago after a dramatic 60% population drop over the past 50 years.

Yet, the decline in elephant numbers in most of Africa has not been uniform, with many populations doing fine or growing rapidly in the southern part. Some southern government officials and wildlife managers are calling for concerted action to limit further growth in certain parks, including the resumption of controversial large-scale culling operations.

At a continental level, about 70% of Africa's 415,000 remaining elephants are in southern Africa, about 20% in East Africa and barely 10% in Central and West Africa. Botswana has about 130,000, Zimbabwe has the second-largest population now nudging 95,000 and there are about 44,000 in South Africa, mostly in the Kruger National Park.

Although some commentators argue that there are now "too many" elephants on the subcontinent, others insist that overall numbers alone are a blunt tool and the concept of carrying capacities are subjective and outdated.

The debate has also become increasingly polarised. Last year, Botswana government officials threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany and 10,000 to London to give Western observers a flavour of the safety risks faced by several rural communities in Africa.

Several of these dilemmas came to the fore during the recent "Elephant in the Room" conference in Zimbabwe, a platform organised by the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust, a partnership between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) and Frankfurt Zoological Society.