Zimbabwe to cull 200 elephants as drought pushes millions toward hunger crisis

FILE PHOTO: A group of elephants and giraffes walk near a carcass of an elephant at a watering hole inside Hwange National Park, in Zimbabwe, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo

Source: REUTERS

Zimbabwe has approved the mass culling of elephants to address the rising hunger crisis caused by the country’s worst drought in over 40 years.

This move mirrors a similar decision in neighbouring Namibia, where authorities approved the slaughter of 700 wild animals, including elephants, to help feed people affected by severe drought conditions.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority plans to slaughter 200 elephants to provide meat to citizens left food-insecure by the drought. "We are targeting to cull 200 elephants," Tinashe Farawo, a spokesperson for the authority, told CNN. Zimbabwe has approximately 100,000 elephants, making it home to the world’s second-largest elephant population, after Botswana.

The elephant culling will focus on regions where human-wildlife conflict has intensified, such as Hwange, Zimbabwe’s largest game reserve, according to Fulton Mangwanya, head of the Parks and Wildlife Authority.

Both Zimbabwe and Namibia are grappling with extreme drought conditions caused by the El Niño climate pattern, which has brought unusually low rainfall to southern Africa since the beginning of the year.

The unpredictable El Niño occurs irregularly, approximately every 2 to 7 years, and can last from 9 to 12 months.

Edward Sakyi