LAKE BUENA VISTA , Fla., July 26, 2007—After a successful trip to Southern Africa in 2006 to control its growing elephant population, a team of veterinary experts led by Disney's Animal Kingdom have returned to the area for 10 days to perform laparoscopic vasectomies on six to 10 bull elephants in the Songimvelo Reserve in the Mpumalanga Parks Region, Africa until August 3, 2007. The surgical procedure proved to be productive last July when the Disney team and other animal experts performed the same procedure on four male elephants at the Welgevonden Game Reserve in South Africa.

Elephant overpopulation in wildlife parks and reserves in Africa is a growing problem and can have devastating effects on the natural landscape and other animal species. Because no proven method of permanent contraception previously existed for elephants, wildlife officials in many countries have considered killing herds of elephants in order to minimize the damage caused by growing elephant populations.

A vasectomy effectively sterilizes male elephants while maintaining normal hormone levels and behaviors. Currently, the elephant population in the area is growing at a rate of eight percent per year. The goal is to reduce the rate to two percent per year.

Disney's Animal Programs long-term goal is to have both the equipment and medical expertise in the country to ultimately be able to perform this surgical procedure by African veterinarians and wildlife experts.

"We are pleased that the laparoscopic vasectomies have been successfully performed and that wildlife officials are investigating its utility in elephant management for parks in South Africa," said Dr. Mark Stetter, director of Veterinary Services and Disney's Animal Programs and leading this effort. "This is a collaborative project that brings together conservation groups, universities and private industry to address a complex and controversial wildlife issue. As an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) we are committed to finding or creating innovative solutions to issues facing all wildlife."

Since 2004, a team of experts including Dr. Mark Stetter from Disney's

Animal Programs, Dr. Dean Hendrickson from Colorado State University,

Dr. Jeff Zuba from the Zoological Society of San Diego and Dr. Douw

Grobler from Catchco Africa h ave performed complete laparoscopic sterilizations on elephants in South Africa.  

Elephants are unique among most mammals in that their testes are next to the kidneys and require abdominal surgery to perform a vasectomy, making the traditional procedure nearly impossible to do in the wild.

Click here for the Elephant Vasectomy Newsletter Update.