Zimbabwe Will Take 200 Elephants To Feed Residents Who Are Starvationed Due To Drought

Elephants in Zimbabwe. (Wikimedia Commons/Bumihillsfoundation)

JAKARTA - Zimbabwe has authorized the mass slaughter of elephants to feed hungry residents due to the worst drought in decades.

With nearly half of the country's population facing the risk of acute hunger, "we are targeting to destroy 200 elephants," Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwean Parks and Wildlife Authority, told CNN on Monday, as reported September 20.

Farawo added that the culling would begin once the authorities completed the required documents.

"We are working on the documents so we can start as soon as possible," he said, adding the planned slaughter would target areas with large elephant populations.

The move follows the decision in Namibia to destroy elephants and other wild animals to address food insecurity sparked by a prolonged drought. The culling drew criticism from animal rights and conservationist activists.

Minister of Environment Sitembiso Nyoni told lawmakers last week that "Zimbabwe has more elephants than we need and more elephants than our forests can accommodate."

He added that the excessive elephant population "corresponded to the lack of resources" for their food, which sparked conflict between humans and wildlife in the country.

"We are in discussions with Zim Parks (The Zimbabwe Wildlife Parks and Wildlife Agency) and several communities to do what Namibia has done so that we can count elephants, mobilize women to dry meat and pack them to ensure that the meat reaches several communities that need protein," explained Nyoni.

"When there is an overpopulation of wildlife in certain parks, they will try to get out of the park to find other resources such as water or green plants. When that happens, they will come into contact with humans and the conflict begins," he added.

Zimbabwe itself is home to more than 84,000 elephants, Farawo said, nearly double its "45,000 capacity," he added.

It is known that Zimbabwe's elephant population is the second largest in the world. The number of elephants there is only inferior to Botswana.

Last month, Namibia approved the slaughter of 700 wild animals and the meat will be distributed to people who face food insecurity.

More than 150 animals have been killed, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Namibia Tourism said, with more than 125,000 pounds of meat distributed.

Zimbabwe and Namibia are just two of many countries in southern Africa that suffer from severe drought caused by El airfall. These countries are also vulnerable to drought exacerbated by climate change.

Separately, the destruction of proposed elephants in Zimbabwe and Namibia has drawn strong criticism.

"The destruction of elephants must be stopped," Farai Maguwu, who leads Zimbabwe-based advocacy group Center for Natural Resource Governance, said in a tweet on X.

"Elephants have the right to live," he wrote, adding "the next generation has the right to see elephants in their natural habitat."

Conservation biologist and natural resource consultant Keith Lindsay also expressed his discomfort in using wildlife to tackle food insecurity, telling CNN things are "very likely to cause more routine and sustainable demand for wild animal meat that will not be sustainable."

However, Farawo said Zimbabwe's decision to slaughter the elephant its first destruction since 1988 was part of broader measures to reduce the conflict between elephants and humans, following a series of elephant attacks on humans.

"The animals caused a lot of chaos in society, killing people. Last week, we lost a woman in the northern part of the country who was killed by an elephant. The previous week, the same thing happened. So (defense) was also a way of controlling it," he said.

At least 31 people have died in Zimbabwe this year due to conflicts between humans and wildlife, local media reported.