National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004)RegulationsNational Norms and Standards for the Management of Elephants in South Africa, 2023 - effective 1 April 2023Chapter 2 : General Management of ElephantsPart 2 : Management of wild elephants14. Composition of wild elephant populations |
| (1) | An elephant population in an extensive wildlife system must be managed with proper regard for— |
| (a) | the highly social nature of elephants; |
| (b) | the organised matriarchal system in which they normally operate; |
| (c) | the hierarchical nature of elephant society; |
| (d) | the social structure of a population, of which the smallest unit is a social unit, led by a matriarch; |
| (e) | the existence of adult bulls alone or in a bond group outside of the social unit; and |
| (f) | the role of adult bulls in dominating and controlling juvenile males. |
| (2) | Bull elephants of the age of twenty-five years or older must be introduced into areas where the only male elephants present are juvenile bulls. |