Southern Africa doesn't have to cull elephant herds...

In a BBC news article last week, it was reported that elephant breeding rates are determined by their environment.

This study's results are important because several countries in Southern Africa have been arguing that there are simply "too many elephants, and that the animals' habitats and the species that share them are suffering as a result." Local authorities have been stating that in these circumstances it is "best to control the elephants' numbers, either by moving them elsewhere or by killing them, before they starve." But if the new findings are correct, the elephants' metabolisms will automatically be checked and reduce the breeding rate until the food supply is restored.