Zimbabwe Government Issues Hunting Permits For 500 Elephants, Activists: Terrible!

Elephants in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. (Wikimedia Commons / JackyR)

JAKARTA - The Zimbabwean government has announced that it will sell the right to shoot 500 elephants this year for sports lovers.

Zimbabwe Wildlife and Parks Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo said the decline in tourism revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic was one of the main reasons for this policy.

"We eat what we kill. We have a budget of about 25 million US dollars for operations, which we collect in part through sports hunting. But, you know tourism is almost dead right now because of the corona virus pandemic," Farawo said as reported by CNN, Friday 23 April.

The announcement comes just weeks after the announcement that the African forest elephant and African savanna elephant were declared endangered.

This move by the Zimbabwean government was met with opposition from activation. SimisoMlevu, spokesman for the Center for Natural Resources Management, Zimbabwe's environmental and human rights advocacy group, said the decision to allow elephant hunting was dire.

"We strongly condemn trophy hunting, a practice that harms wild animals and increases the conflict between human life and wildlife," Mlevu said.

"It is almost certain that the wildlife families who are still alive and witness the senseless shooting of their family members will take revenge on the local villagers," he explained.

"Contrary to the government's argument that trophy hunting is meant to help conservation. This practice is motivated by greed and often money doesn't even count. There is a need for more innovative and environmentally friendly actions, to increase revenue from photo safaris and tourism in general," he added.

To note, apart from Zimbabwe, several countries in Africa also allow the hunting of elephants for a fee. In December, Namibia sold 170 high-value wild elephants for sale due to drought and an increase in elephant numbers.