Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said the plan was “necessary” and consistent with the country’s constitutional obligation to use natural resources for the benefit of the Namibian people. Hunting wildlife for food is not an uncommon strategy. Rose Mwebaza, director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Africa office, said: “Healthy wildlife populations, well managed and sustainably harvested, can provide a valuable food source for local communities.”
The drought has affected large parts of South Africa; the United Nations World Food Programme said in June that more than 30 million people in the region are affected. Benjamin Suarato, a spokesman for the US Agency for International Development, said droughts are a common problem in South Africa, having occurred multiple times over the past decade, including from 2018 to 2021. But this drought is particularly severe and widespread, said Julian Zeidler, World Wildlife Fund country director for Namibia.
“There’s no food,” Zeidler said. “No food for humans, no food for animals.”
Namibia’s plans include slaughtering 300 zebras, 30 hippos, 50 impalas, 60 buffalo, 100 wildebeest and 100 elands. The country is also working to reduce contact between humans and wildlife, which is expected to increase during droughts as they search for water and vegetation. Namibia noted that despite being herbivores, elephants can be deadly, citing a Reuters report that elephants killed at least 50 people in Zimbabwe last year.
The United Nations has recently highlighted the seriousness of the situation in Namibia, with a spokesman saying last week that 84 percent of the country’s food resources are “already depleted.”
