Staff Reporter
A GROUP of conservationists has announced that the conservation community is exploring avenues for legal action, and an international petition has been launched, which has already gained thousands of signatures in hopes of halting the government’s plans to cull 723 wild animals for drought relief.
In August, the government announced that it would undertake a massive cull of endangered species and protected wildlife, with the majority of the shooting taking place inside the country’s protected national parks. The cull targets 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, 300 zebras, 30 hippos, 60 buffaloes, 50 impalas, 100 eland, and 100 wildebeest.
“The government, whose credibility has been in question since ministers were jailed for environmental exploitation in 2021, claims the move is necessary to feed people affected by the drought. However, no proper environmental or food insecurity assessments have been conducted. The move only appears to benefit those in important voting areas ahead of the election, and statistics suggest the percentage of the population affected by drought is among the lowest in the region. Many fear that if the scheme is allowed to proceed, it sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to similar schemes on an even bigger scale by unscrupulous governments across the continent,” the conservationists said in a statement.
They added that while the recent rainy season was poor, Namibia’s food insecurity statistics, as reported by organisations like the FAO and World Bank, have remained relatively stable and among the lowest when compared to other countries in the region.
The Environment Ministry has said that the culling of wild animals has already commenced, with the first exercise undertaken on 14 August 2024.
The conservation activists further added that Namibia’s N$14.2 billion tourism industry, which employs 58,000 people, is heavily reliant on wildlife and would suffer significant negative impacts, including potential mass layoffs if the cull proceeds.
“The inevitable social media videos of the deeply disturbing culling process could lead to international tourism boycotts. Elephants, in particular, are valuable not only for their ecological role but also for their contribution to tourism income, which supports local communities and the broader economy. There is concern that hunters could cull trans-national elephant herds passing through the country, such as the herd featured in the Namibian desert regions for Disney’s documentary ‘Elephant’. The Huab and Ugab areas, also being targeted, are home to some of the rarest animals on earth, known as Africa’s ‘desert elephants’,” the activist said.
They further said that these desert-adapted elephants know how to survive the worst droughts by digging for water and helping other animals with the pools they create, but added that populations are already in trouble, with 9 out of their last recorded 14 newborns dying.
“Just 62 desert elephants are known to populate these areas, where the government aims to cull 21 of its planned 83 elephants. In other areas, the elephants being targeted are not established to be the cause of any human-elephant conflict incidents, as the press release misleadingly implies. The negative impacts of mass culling extend beyond elephants to other species such as hippos, zebras, and antelopes, potentially altering their natural behaviour around tourists for decades. Predators like lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and scavengers such as vultures, all of whom depend on drought-weakened prey, are also affected, further disrupting the fragile ecosystem,” the conservationists stressed.