83 elephants among 700 animals to be culled in Namibia’s drought response

A total of 83 elephants are among more than 700 animals to be slaughtered – with their meat given to Namibians struggling to feed themselves as the country faces a severe drought.

Apart from elands and hippos being culled, the elephants will be slaughtered “because of the human wildlife conflict”, Namibia’s ministry of environment, forestry and tourism, announced this week.

Cabinet approved the slaughter of 723 animals – 30 hippos, 60 buffaloes, 50 impalas, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebras, 83 elephants and 100 elands.

Namibia animals sourced from national parks

The animals will be sourced from national parks and communal areas with sustainable game numbers.

“Hunters are now tracking 157 animals comprising of different species in Mangetti National Park, 20 in Mahango, 70 in Kwando, six in Bufallo and nine in Mudumo, delivering 56 875km of meat,” the ministry said.

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Namibia had exhausted 84% of its food reserves last month, according to the United Nations. Nearly half of country’s population is expected to experience high levels of food insecurity in the coming months.

“The Namibia Livelihood Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis report requires the ministry to support the drought relief programme with the provision of meat,” the ministry said.

And in line with the National Conference on Human Wildlife Conflict Management’s resolution last year, the 83 elephants will be culled “to reduce elephant numbers as a measure to assist in reducing prevailing cases of human-wildlife conflict”.

Man killed by elephants

On Saturday, 48-year-old Efraim Shivute of Oshitumbe B Village in Uukwaluudhi Conservancy was killed by elephants.

His body was discovered by community members early on Sunday.

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“A heard of approximately 20 elephants were observed in the area,” the ministry said.

“With the severe drought situation in the country, conflicts are expected to increase if no interventions are made.”

The meat will be allocated to the drought relief programme under the Office of the Prime Minister.

Not first time Namibia taken aim at elephants

It is not the first time Namibia has taken aim at elephants: in May 2020, the environment ministry killed 10 elephants over two months “to prevent the freely roaming animals from trampling crops”.

“Living with such animals living outside parks comes at a cost during harvesting season,” the ministry said at the time, adding only “problem animals” were being targeted.

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“This is something we are doing because we have no alternative.”

Meat distributed to communities, tusks added to ivory stocks

The culled elephant meat was distributed among local communities, while their tusks were added to the government’s ivory stocks.

The country is home to over 24 000 elephants, mostly concentrated in and around national parks near the northern border with Angola.

The pachyderms are not fenced in and sometimes pose a threat to local communities, trampling through fields and occasionally attacking villagers.