(CNN) – Zimbabwe has authorised a mass slaughter of elephants to feed hungry citizens in the wake of the worst drought in decades.
With almost half of the country’s population at risk of acute famine“Our aim is to cull 200 elephants,” Tinashe Farawo, a spokeswoman for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority, told CNN on Monday.
The move comes after Namibia decided to cull elephants and other wildlife to alleviate food insecurity caused by a prolonged drought. The culls have drawn criticism from animal rights activists and conservationists.
According to Farawo, Zimbabwe is home to more than 84,000 elephants, roughly double its “capacity of 45,000.”
Zimbabwe’s elephant population is the second largest in the world, second only to Botswana’s.
The country’s environment minister, Sithembiso Nyoni, He told parliamentarians last week that “Zimbabwe has more elephants than we need and more elephants than our forests can accommodate.”
He added that elephant overpopulation “causes a lack of resources” for their sustenance, which fuels conflicts between humans and wildlife in the country.
“We are in discussions with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority and some communities to do what Namibia has done – count the elephants, mobilise women to maybe dry the meat and package it so it can reach some communities that need protein,” Nyoni said.
“When there is an overpopulation of wild animals in a particular park, then they will try to leave the park in search of other resources such as water or vegetation. When that happens, they come into contact with humans and conflicts begin.”
In Namibia, 700 wild animals, including elephants, were allowed to be slaughtered and their meat distributed to food-insecure people last month.
According to According to the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, more than 150 animals have already been slaughtered and more than 56,700 kilograms of meat distributed.
Zimbabwe and Namibia are just two of many countries in southern Africa suffering from severe drought caused by El Niño, a natural weather pattern that has produced very little rainfall in the region since the beginning of the year. These countries are also vulnerable to droughts aggravated by climate change.
Parks Authority spokesman Farawo told CNN the cull will begin once authorities complete the necessary paperwork.
“We are doing the paperwork (…) so we can start as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the planned cull would focus on areas with a large elephant population.
Proposed elephant culls in Zimbabwe and Namibia have been heavily criticised.
“Elephant culling must stop,” Farai Maguwu, who heads the Zimbabwe-based advocacy group Center for Natural Resource Governance, said in a message on X.
“Elephants have the right to exist,” wroteadding that “future generations have the right to see elephants in their natural habitat.”
Conservation biologist and natural resource consultant Keith Lindsay also expressed his displeasure over the use of wildlife to mitigate food insecurity, telling CNN that it is “very likely to lead to a more regular and ongoing demand for bushmeat that would be unsustainable.”
Farawo, however, said Zimbabwe’s decision to cull elephants – its first since 1988 – was part of broader measures to reduce conflict between elephants and humans, following a series of elephant attacks on humans.
“The animals are causing a lot of damage in communities, killing people. Last week we lost a woman in the north of the country who was killed by an elephant. The same thing happened the week before. So (selective killing) is also a form of control,” he said.
At least 31 people have died this year in Zimbabwe as a result of conflicts between humans and wild animals, as reported local media.
–CNN’s Laura Paddison contributed to this article.
Add Comment