Why is Namibia culling hundreds of animals, including elephants?

As Namibia faces its worst drought in a hundred years, nearly half of its population is grappling with food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

El Niño, a natural climate pattern that has reduced rainfall in the region, coupled with Namibia's arid conditions and erratic rainfall patterns, has made the country vulnerable to water scarcity, leading to the devastating drought. This means as many as 1.4 million people in the country are at risk of acute food insecurity and malnutrition, according to the IPC.

To tackle the issue, the country’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) has announced that it will slaughter 723 wild animals and distribute the meat to those most affected by the drought, living in Namibia’s rural regions.

Amongst the cull, there will be 30 hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebras, 83 elephants and 100 elands.

The move is deemed as a “necessary” measure by MEFT, as “natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens," it said in a statement this week.

The culling process, which is limited to national parks and communal areas that are home to sustainable populations of animals, will be carried out by licensed hunters and safari operators. Drought and malnutrition

The country is considered one of the ‘driest’ countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and has been a victim of drought conditions for seven years, leading President Nangolo Mbumba to declare a State of Emergency on May 22.

Namibia is one of Africa's top five diamond exporters, but a drop in global demand for the precious rock has hampered its economic activity. This along with a slowdown in agricultural production, exacerbated by drought, has contributed to the country’s growing food insecurity.

“Namibia’s deteriorating food security is driven by climatic and price shocks, economic decline, and unemployment,” reads a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report.

And a growing concern is malnutrition, with an estimated 24 percent of children under the age of five suffering from stunted growth.

The WHO report further adds six percent of children are experiencing wasting (weighing too little for their height) and thirteen percent are underweight. “At least one in three households cannot afford a basic nutritious diet, which affects up to 70 percent of the population in certain regions of Namibia.”

Sustainability drive

Amid this food and nutrition crisis, the country’s ministry has justified its proposed cull as a “a sustainability intervention,” reasoning that these animals would have perished as a result of the drought, in any case.

Besides distributing meat to the most vulnerable, culling is also supposed to reduce human-wildlife conflict, as both man and animal compete for resources. "With the severe drought situation in the country, conflicts are expected to increase if no interventions are made," the ministry said.

In 2021, the government came under criticism from animal rights activists for auctioning off 170 elephants to unknown bidders. The campaigners collected a petition with over 100,000 signatures condemning the sale.

The ministry pointed out that Namibia’s elephant population had increased in recent years to 24,000.

“There are more elephants in Namibia today than at any [given] time in the past 100 years,” said Teofilus Nghitila, the executive director of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. “The 170 off-take is extremely conservative. This is well below sustainable off-take levels, and the population continues to grow and expand,” he added.

Back then. Mongabay, a media outlet focusing on environmental issues, reported that some conservationists were debating the government’s data.

It argued anywhere between 73 to 84 percent of Namibia’s elephants could possibly be “transboundary, meaning they engage in migration to and from Namibia, Angola, Botswana, and Zambia” which would leave Namibia's native elephant population at around 5,688.

More recently, the African Mirror highlighted the sensitivity of the issue, noting “the international community will be watching closely to see how Namibia navigates this delicate balance between human welfare and wildlife preservation”.