Zimbabwe and Namibia will kill scores of elephants to feed people facing
drought
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[September 18, 2024]
By FARAI MUTSAKA and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe and Namibia have announced plans to
slaughter hundreds of wild elephants and other animals to feed
hunger-stricken residents amid severe drought conditions in the southern
African countries.
Zimbabwe said Monday it would allow the killing of 200 elephants so that
their meat can be distributed among needy communities, while in Namibia
the killing of more than 700 wild animals — including 83 elephants — is
under way as part of a plan announced three weeks ago.
Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority, said permits would be issued in needy communities
to hunt elephants and that the agency also would kill some of the
overall allotment of 200 animals.
“We will start culling as soon as we have finished issuing out permits,”
Farawo said.
The elephants will be taken from an area where the population has become
unsustainable, Farawo said. The hunting will take place in areas such as
Hwange National Park in the country’s arid west where there has been
increasing competition between humans and wildlife for food and water as
rising temperatures make the resources more scarce.
Hwange has move than 45,000 elephants, but now has the capacity to
sustain only 15,000, Farawo said. The country's overall population of
about 100,000 elephants is double what the country's national parks can
sustain, park officials say.
The El Nino weather phenomenon has worsened the situation, with the
parks agency in December saying that more than 100 elephants died due to
drought. More animals could die of thirst and hunger in the coming weeks
as the country enters the hottest period of the year, Farawo said.
Zimbabwe's Environment Minister Sithembiso Nyoni told Parliament last
week that she had given the go-ahead for the culling program.
“Indeed Zimbabwe has more elephants than we need, more elephants than
our forestry can accommodate," Nyoni said.
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A herd of elephants make their way through the Hwange National Park,
Zimbabwe, in search of water, on Nov. 10, 2019. (AP Photo, File)
She said the government was preparing “to do like what Namibia has done
so that we can cull the elephants and mobilize the women to dry the
meat, package it and ensure that it gets to some communities that need
the protein.”
The Namibian government last month approved the culling of 723 animals,
including 83 elephants, 30 hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 300 zebras
and 100 elands, among others.
The animals will be sourced from five of Namibia's national parks, where
it is also looking to reduce its elephant numbers amid conflicts between
people and wildlife.
“This is necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where
our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens,"
environment department spokesman Romeo Muyunda said. "This is also a
prime example that conservation of game is really beneficial.”
Botswana, which is between Zimbabwe and Namibia, has the world's largest
elephant population at 130,000, but unlike its two neighboring
countries, it has not talked about slaughtering its elephants to feed
its people.
Guyo Roba, a food security and agricultural expert with the Kenya-based
environmental think tank Jameel Observatory, said government measures in
Zimbabwe and Namibia were understandable given the extent of the drought
and the state of their animal populations.
“They are working against a wildlife population that is above their
carrying capacity," Roba said.
“So it may seem controversial initially, but the governments are torn
between remaining faithful to some of their obligations at an
international level in terms of conservation and supporting the
population," Roba said.
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