Abstract:
Management interventions are necessary to control elephant numbers within fenced wildlife
reserves in South Africa. Use of non-lethal control methods is increasing, but information
about their suitability and effects are not widely available. Three such methods are currently
available: immunocontraception with porcine zona pellucida vaccine, vasectomy and
gonadotropin-releasing hormone vaccine. Here we consolidate what we know about these
methods, using published sources and material shared at a workshop held in South Africa in
2016, in order to provide up-to-date information for future policy decisions concerning the
use of these methods in South Africa and elsewhere.
