This next one may come as a surprise to some of you, but South Africa has decided to reverse the 1995 ban on killing elephants. According to the officials, the decision was promoted by the pachyderm's booming population.

Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk explained that the killing will be under strict supervision and that no "wholesale slaughter" will be allowed. The announcement, needless to say, was met by protests from animal welfare groups.

Based from the statistics provided by South Africa, the country and its neighbors are home to around 300,000 elephants which constitute half of the total elephant population on the continent.

The minister added that these animals in their country has a rate of more than 5% per year and are expected to double in number around 12 years from now. van Schalkwyk further discussed:

Our simple reality is that elephant population density has risen so much in some southern African countries that there is concern about impacts on the landscape, the viability of other species, and the livelihoods and safety of people living within elephant ranges.

They are doing the responsible thing. It is the right choice to have culling as an option but with strong provisos. We all love elephants, no one wants to kill them but we don't have the luxury for one species to dominate.