Pity we don't have Sally Brown's original letter.

As for Hwange when I was last there in 1994, 16 years ago, the Western part of the Park had trees all "chopped off" at about 8 to 12 feet high by the excessive numbers of elephant. The Eastern part seemed in better condition, but there were pretty large herds there too. This was 16 years ago ...

I disagree fundamentally with Thomson's comment:

"Tourism doesn’t feature in this hierarchy of wildlife management priorities at all."

This is the same sort of crap the greenie wildlife people try to push in Aust as well. That people are not part of the process, and Parks are best locked away from nuisance visitors.

National Parks exist for conservation but also for human use and enjoyment.

Interesting this is principally about the debate of whether hunting and shooting of elephant in the Park should be allowed to occur. The Shooters and Fishers Party in NSW is pushing the same thing currently, that hunting of feral and even native game, possibly, should be allowed in national parks.