HARARE-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 on Monday it would allow the killing of 200 elephants so their meat can be distributed among communities in need, while in Namibia the killing of more than 700 wild animals including 83 elephants is underway 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 the agency will also kill some of the 200 animals allotted.
“We will start culling as soon as we have finished issuing out permits,” Mr Farawo said.
Zimbabwe ‘has more elephants than we need’, minister says
The elephants will be taken from an area where the population has become unsustainable, Mr Farawo said.
The hunting will take place in Hwange National Park in the country’s arid west, where rising temperatures has made resources more scarce and increased competition between humans and wildlife for food.
Hwange has more than 45,000 elephants but now has the capacity to sustain only 15,000, Mr 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 Niño weather phenomenon has worsened the situation, with the parks agency saying in December 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, Mr Farawo said.
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