Zimbabwe has sanctioned the culling of 200 elephants in response to a devastating drought that has left many citizens at risk of acute hunger, marking the worst drought the country has faced in decades. Tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority, confirmed this decision to DailyOn, noting that nearly half of the nation’s population is affected by hunger.
This move comes on the heels of a similar decision by Namibia to cull elephants and other wildlife to alleviate food shortages resulting from prolonged drought conditions. However, these culling measures have drawn criticism from animal rights activists and conservationists.
Zimbabwe’s elephant population exceeds 84,000, significantly surpassing its ecological capacity of 45,000. As the second-largest elephant population in the world, only behind Botswana, the overpopulation poses challenges. Environment Minister Sithembiso Nyoni addressed parliamentarians last week, stating, « Zimbabwe has more elephants than we need and more elephants than our forests can accommodate. »
Nyoni explained that the overpopulation leads to resource scarcity, exacerbating human-wildlife conflict in the country. « We are discussing with Zim Parks and some communities to implement measures similar to those in Namibia, allowing us to count the elephants and mobilize women to dry the meat and package it for distribution to communities in need of protein, » she added.
She emphasized that when wildlife populations exceed park capacities, animals venture outside their protected areas in search of resources, leading to increased interactions with humans and potential conflicts.
Last month, Namibia approved the slaughter of 700 wild animals, including elephants, for their meat to be distributed among those facing food insecurity. To date, more than 150 animals have already been culled, resulting in over 125,000 pounds of meat shared with affected communities.
Zimbabwe and Namibia are among several southern African countries grappling with severe drought conditions exacerbated by the El Niño climate pattern, which has led to minimal rainfall in the region since the beginning of the year. These countries are also increasingly vulnerable to droughts intensified by climate change.
Farawo stated that the culling in Zimbabwe will commence once the necessary paperwork is finalized.
We are doing the paperwork so that we can start as soon as possible,” Tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority, stated, adding that the planned culling will focus on areas with large elephant populations.
However, the proposed culls in both Zimbabwe and Namibia have faced significant backlash. Farai Maguwu, leader of the Zimbabwe-based advocacy group Center for Natural Resource Governance, took to X to declare, “Culling of elephants must be stopped. Elephants have a right to exist,” stressing that “future generations have a right to see elephants in their natural habitat. ”
Conservation biologist and natural resources consultant Keith Lindsay also voiced his concerns, stating that using wildlife to combat food insecurity could create a “very likely” ongoing demand for bushmeat, which would be unsustainable.
Despite these criticisms, Farawo defended Zimbabwe’s decision to cull elephants—its first since 1988—as part of broader efforts to mitigate conflicts between elephants and humans. “The animals are causing a lot of havoc in communities, 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 it (the culling) is also a way of controlling,” he explained.
Local media reported that at least 31 people have died in Zimbabwe this year due to conflicts with wildlife, underscoring the urgent need for action in the eyes of some authorities.
