According to the BBC, The South African government banned the culling of elephants since 1995, and this issue has already brought animal rights activists out of the wood-work. It has also brought out the other side of contention on the issue - those that feel the elephants are dangerous to those that live near their habitat. They eat crops and compete with people for water, or so the argument goes.
The elephant population is thought to have grown from 8,000 to 18,000 since the government banned culls in 1995.