Staff Writer
The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife says Zimbabwe plans to cull elephants in a bid to address the devastating effects of the El Niño-induced drought.
The move, mirroring Namibia’s recent actions, is primarily driven by the urgent need to address food shortages and alleviate pressure on declining resources.
The rapid growth of the elephant population has placed immense strain on Zimbabwe’s ecosystems, leading to habitat degradation and increased competition for resources.
This, in turn, has exacerbated human-wildlife conflicts, as elephants encroach on human settlements and agricultural lands in search of food and water.
The ongoing drought, exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon, has further compounded the challenges facing Zimbabwe’s elephant population and its human inhabitants.
The lack of adequate rainfall has reduced the availability of water and vegetation, forcing both elephants and humans to compete for scarce resources.
Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife Sithembiso Nyoni acknowledged that the elephant population has surpassed the carrying capacity of the country’s forests, leading to heightened human-wildlife conflict and resource scarcity.
“Zimbabwe has more elephants than we need and more elephants than our forests can accommodate. We are having a discussion with Zim Parks and some communities to do like what Namibia has done so that we can count the elephants, mobilise the women to maybe dry the meat and package it to ensure that it gets to some communities that need the protein,” Nyoni told the National Assembly.
Zimbabwe boasts one of the world’s largest elephant populations, with estimates ranging from 80,000 to 100,000. The significant growth has strained the country’s ecosystems and exacerbated human-wildlife conflicts.
Nyoni said the culling plan involves conducting a thorough elephant census to determine the exact population size and identifying areas where culling would be most effective.
She said the culling would be conducted following strict guidelines and regulations to minimise any negative impacts on elephant populations and the environment.
“The Ministry is working very hard to ensure that within the confines of the law, we can cull what is allowed for us to cull and be able to input into the Presidential feeding schemes to provide the protein,” Nyoni said.
The drought has had a devastating impact on food security, and the culling program offers a potential solution to alleviate suffering and preserve wildlife populations for future generations.
Nyoni said the decision to cull elephants in Zimbabwe comes amid a backdrop of increasing human-wildlife conflict and a surge in the elephant population.
“The human-wildlife conflict is rife in Zimbabwe,” she said.
The ongoing drought, exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon, has further compounded the challenges facing Zimbabwe’s elephant population and its human inhabitants.
