The sun shines in a clear sky at the end of August and temperatures in Namibia, southwest Africa, reach 35 degrees Celsius. For months, there has been little rain. Southern Africa is facing an unprecedented drought this winter.
Experts attribute the extreme lack of rain to the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has been particularly severe this year. Several months ago, Namibia, as well as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, declared a state of emergency due to the persistent drought.
Now, The Namibian government has decided, not without controversy, to help the rural population by allowing the hunting of more than 700 wild animals that should be under special protection in the country’s national parks.The animals include elephants, antelopes, buffalo, zebras and wildebeest, most of which will be killed by professional hunters. Namibia’s environment ministry says about half of the country’s population, some 1.4 million people, are seriously threatened by food and water shortages.
A drastic measure
The Namibian government is taking drastic measures to mitigate the consequences of the drought. Dozens of wild animals are at risk of dying of thirst due to acute water shortages in many regions of Namibia, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Environment. By shooting some of the animals, the spokesman said, they are prevented from dying of thirst, which also increases the chances of survival for the other animals.
Water and food shortages have worsened the coexistence between humans and animals. Animals are increasingly invading human settlements and endangering local populations in their search for water.
There are also plans to make the meat of the slaughtered animals available to Namibia’s hungry rural population. Authorities have already started doing so. More than 150 animals have been shot, and some 57 tonnes of meat is said to have been distributed to villages near the affected conservation areas.
Environmentalists sound the alarm
However, the culling of wild animals has caused outrage among animal rights organisations. The non-profit Elephant-Human Relations Aid (EHRA), which advocates for peaceful coexistence between elephants and humans, has declared the move to be the “largest mass culling of wild animals in Namibia’s history”.
The group has launched a petition calling on the government to halt the project and develop alternative solutions. It says the ministry has not sufficiently assessed the impact that hunting wild animals will have on Namibia’s economy and tourism sector.
The EHRA also accuses the government of allowing trophy hunters to shoot some of the animals in exchange for payment of sums of money, a fact now confirmed by Namibia’s Ministry of Environment. However, it stresses that it will use the amount raised – equivalent to around 500,000 euros (552,000 dollars) – to improve water supplies in Namibian national parks.
A ploy to win over voters?
The EHRA says it is also wrong to claim that wild animals such as elephants and giraffes compete for water with cattle and goats of Namibians living nearby.Cattle and goats are not allowed in national parks, so wild and farm animals do not compete for the same resources.
The organisation therefore suspects that the government’s plan is motivated by other motives. Its petition says: “This is an election year in Namibia, and the ruling SWAPO party is facing growing opposition from voters, whose political support comes mainly from the rural communal areas that will receive this sacrificial meat.” The EHRA suspects that the ruling party is primarily interested in winning the favour of voters ahead of the elections on 29 November. It has therefore called on the government to find another approach that benefits Namibia’s wild animals.
On Wednesday 28 August 2024, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment released a new statement defending the move, saying it was necessary and “in line with our constitutional mandate to use our natural resources for the benefit of Namibian citizens.” It also said: “We are pleased to be able to assist the country in these very difficult times, when it is absolutely necessary.”
The ministry also said elephants had killed a person while searching for water. As a precaution, residents of the areas in question should not “walk in nature at night.”
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