Zimbabwe to follow in Namibia’s footsteps, orders cull of 200 elephants amid food shortages from drought

Zimbambwe will cull 200 elephants as it faces an unprecedented drought that has led to food shortages.

The move tackles a ballooning population of the animals, the country’s wildlife authority has said.

Zimbabwe’s environment minister, Sithembiso Nyoni, has told Voice of America: “We are having a discussion with ZimParks and some communities to do what Namibia has done, so that we can cull the elephants and mobilise the women to maybe dry the meat, package it, and ensure it gets to some communities that need the protein.”

The country has “more elephants than it needed”, the environment minister said in parliament on Wednesday, adding that the government had instructed the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) to begin the culling process.

The 200 elephants would be hunted in areas where they had clashed with humans, including Hwange, the home of Zimbabwe’s largest natural reserve, said the director general of ZimParks, Fulton Mangwanya.

Zimbabwe is home to an estimated 100 000 elephants – the second-biggest population in the world after Botswana.

Due to conservation efforts, Hwange is home to 65 000 of the animals, more than four times its capacity, according to ZimParks. Zimbabwe last culled elephants in 1988.

Neighbouring Namibia said this month that it had already killed 160 wild animals in a planned cull of more than 700, including 83 elephants, to cope with its worst drought in decades.

Zimbabwe and Namibia are among a swathe of countries in southern Africa that have declared a state of emergency because of drought.

About 42% of Zimbabweans live in poverty, according to United Nations (UN) estimates, and the authorities say about six million will require food assistance during the November-to-March lean season, when food is at its scarcest.

The move to hunt the elephants for food was criticised by some, not least because the animals are a major draw for tourists.

“The government must have more sustainable eco-friendly methods to deal with drought without affecting tourism,” said Farai Maguwu, the director of the non-profit Centre for Natural Resource Governance.

“They risk turning away tourists on ethical grounds. The elephants are more profitable alive than dead,” he said.

“We have shown that we are poor custodians of natural resources, and our appetite for ill-gotten wealth knows no bounds, so this must be stopped, because it is unethical.”

But Chris Brown, a conservationist and the chief executive of the Namibian Chamber of Environment, said elephants had a “devastating effect on habitat if they are allowed to increase continually, exponentially”.

“They really damage ecosystems and habitats, and they have a huge impact on other species which are less iconic and therefore matter less in the eyes of the Eurocentric, urban armchair conservation people,” he said.

“Those species matter as much as elephants.”

Namibia’s cull of elephants has been condemned by conservationists and the animal rights group Peta as shortsighted, cruel and ineffective.

But the government said the 83 to be culled would be only a small fraction of the estimated 20 000 elephants in the arid country, and would relieve pressure on grazing and water supplies. – The Guardian, UK