Elephants are among the most magnificent – but also most problematic –members of South Africa's wildlife population. While they are sought after by South African and foreign tourists alike, they also have a major impact on their environment. As a result, elephant management has become a highly complex and often controversial discipline. The information needed to underpin vital decisions about elephant management has largely been unavailable to decision-makers, contested by experts, or simply unknown. As a result, the South African Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism convened a round table to advise him on this issue. The round table recommended that a scientific assessment of elephant management be undertaken to gather, evaluate, and present all the relevant information on this topic. Its main findings and recommendations are contained in this volume. Elephant Management is the first book of its kind, combining the work of more than 60 national and international experts. Extensively reviewed by policy-makers and other stakeholders, it is the most systematic and comprehensive review of savanna elephant populations and factors relevant to managing them to date. As such it is of interest to a broad spectrum of readers in South Africa and elsewhere. Above all, it is aimed at helping conservation policy-makers and practitioners to choose the best possible options for the sustainable preservation of these iconic animals.|The management of South Africa's elephants is a lightning-rod for a whole range of associated values-based policy issues pertaining to the elephant in South Africa. Elephant Management aims to pave the way to better resolution of these controversial issues. This illustrated and comprehenseive work explores a range of topics: synthesizing, evaluating and summarizing knowledge on the biology and ecology of elephants; elephant effects on trees, other herbivores, birds and ecosystem function; management techniques; and social, economic and ethical implications of various management options. It contains contributions from an expert author team comprised of many of the world's leading specialists, including biologists, environmentalists, ethicists, economists and lawyers. Elephant Management is the first book of its kind, and topical both nationally and internationally. The research has been thoroughly peer-, stakeholder- and publicly reviewed. The anticipated readership is broad, including not only conservation policymakers and practitioners in South Africa and Africa, but also postgraduate students in many parts of the world, researchers and academics, conservation NGOs, interested stakeholders and members of the public. The book is likely to become required reading for university courses.