200 animals culled so far
Zorena Jantze
THE Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), Pohamba Shifeta, has hit back at criticism from international media and conservationists, saying that the government’s culling of 723 wild animals “is not election meat” and that the country had culled around 300 wild animals during a previous drought in 2016.
Since the announcement that the government would cull 723 wild animals, including about 83 elephants, conservationists have threatened to take legal action against the Namibian government.
Shifeta said that, so far, the government has culled a total of 200 wild animals in efforts to help starving communities hit by drought, adding that, often, conservationists do not consider the humanitarian element in the decision.
Shifeta made these remarks in parliament in response to questions posed by official opposition party Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani on 10 September 2024.
“I want to answer the question put by Venaani. The culling has started. We have culled approximately 200 animals,” Shifeta said.
The minister added that the ministry uses registered hunters to carry out the culling process on behalf of the government. However, he bemoaned the fact that previously disadvantaged hunters are very few in the industry.
“Out of big game hunters, professional hunters, you have only about four previously disadvantaged out of 100… We have a problem with economic transformation in this industry,” Shifeta said.
The environment minister further explained that the meat is stored in cold storage containers, and distribution is done through the Office of the Prime Minister. The meat is given as a supplementary item in the drought relief food package.
Shifeta further mentioned that, to date, about eight elephants have been culled and that the ministry is targeting elephants all over the country, depending on the population density of elephants in specific areas. The focus is mainly on the elephants that have become part of the human-wildlife conflict.
“Because of drought, the animals are encroaching on the communities. These are the elephants we are trying to cull. The rest of the herd, including some adults, females, and the small ones, we try to drive somewhere else and see whether they can settle there and become residents. The first priority is to cull the animals because, due to the drought, many of them will die if we don’t act. This also provides relief to our communities and minimizes or mitigates human-wildlife conflict. Some of the elephants were given to farms with facilities to keep them, but all these farms are now full in Namibia. So even those who received them had to export them. However, exporting became a problem. Those in urban areas do not understand the pinch felt by people who live side by side with these animals,” Shifeta said.
The environment minister concluded that the ministry would cull 100 elephants, an upward revision from the 83 initially announced.
“We are to cull 100 elephants. However, I cannot say the exact figure as reports will have to be gathered from the regions. This is not election meat. This is not the first time. We culled about 300 animals during the last drought,” Shifeta concluded.
