Jumbo Slaughter
Operation Jumbo Slaughter

42 West has ended its PR push to justify the Government of Botswana's effort to cull its elephant herd, which has grown in population from the 20,000s during the 1970s to 135K today.

Animal rights and environmental groups have trashed the hunt. Britain's Daily Mail dubbed the elephant hunt, "Operation Jumbo Slaughter."

Allan Mayer, co-CEO and head of 42 West's strategic communications unit, handled the work for Botswana. He's the former head of Sitrick & Co.'s entertainment unit and staff writer for the Wall Street Journal.

The entertainment PR firm released the following statement to Roger Friedman's Showbiz411 column: “While the nature of what 42West was hired to do for the Botswana Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism has been grossly misrepresented, we have ended this relationship.”

42 West's PR effort was worth $125K. Botswana contends rampaging elephants kill farmers, wreck crops and destroy landscapes.