Namibia Plans to Cull More Than 700 Wild Animals, Including 83 Elephants
Namibia plans to cull more than 700 wild animals, among them 83 elephants.
TroibNews 
Namibia is set to cull 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, with the aim of distributing the meat to individuals facing food shortages due to a severe drought affecting southern Africa, according to the environment ministry.
The culling will occur in parks and communal areas where authorities have determined that animal populations exceed the available grazing and water resources, as indicated in a statement released on Monday.
The region is experiencing its most severe drought in decades, with reports from the United Nations indicating that Namibia depleted 84% of its food reserves last month. It is projected that nearly half of the country's population will face significant food insecurity in the upcoming months.
The environment ministry cautioned that without intervention, human-wildlife conflict is anticipated to rise given the dire circumstances.
"To this effect, 83 elephants from identified conflict areas will be culled, (and) meat will be allocated to the drought relief programme," it stated.
In addition to elephants, Namibia plans to cull 30 hippos, 60 buffalo, along with 50 impala, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebra, and 100 eland.
"This exercise is necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens," the ministry noted.
The estimated population of over 200,000 elephants in the conservation areas of five southern African countries—Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola, and Namibia—constitutes one of the largest elephant populations in the world.
Last year, drought conditions led to the deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
(Cover: A herd of elephants in Namibia. /CFP)
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
The culling will occur in parks and communal areas where authorities have determined that animal populations exceed the available grazing and water resources, as indicated in a statement released on Monday.
The region is experiencing its most severe drought in decades, with reports from the United Nations indicating that Namibia depleted 84% of its food reserves last month. It is projected that nearly half of the country's population will face significant food insecurity in the upcoming months.
The environment ministry cautioned that without intervention, human-wildlife conflict is anticipated to rise given the dire circumstances.
"To this effect, 83 elephants from identified conflict areas will be culled, (and) meat will be allocated to the drought relief programme," it stated.
In addition to elephants, Namibia plans to cull 30 hippos, 60 buffalo, along with 50 impala, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebra, and 100 eland.
"This exercise is necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens," the ministry noted.
The estimated population of over 200,000 elephants in the conservation areas of five southern African countries—Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola, and Namibia—constitutes one of the largest elephant populations in the world.
Last year, drought conditions led to the deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
(Cover: A herd of elephants in Namibia. /CFP)
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
