“It is a catastrophe that will only get worse with global warming,” laments Yolaine de La Bigne, spokesperson for the Association for the Protection of Wild Animals (Aspas). Nearly 160 animals have been slaughtered in Namibia since September 3rd on the government’s decision, partly to feed the starving population and partly to ease the pressure on pasture and water resources, which have been severely affected by the drought afflicting this southern African country.
“This exercise is necessary and in line with our constitutional mandate,” writes the Namibian Ministry of Environment, which intends to take advantage of the success of its nature conservation policies. Namibia, the first African country to have enshrined environmental protection in its Constitution, has worked hard to preserve its resources. Currently, 44% of its surface area is a protected natural area, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
“There is this idea that the population is legitimate in taking advantage of the resources that it has helped to preserve to overcome crises like the current drought,” explains Marion Valeix, CNRS ecologist, at the Laboratory of Biometrics and Evolutionary Biology, and at the Hwange Workshop Zone in Zimbabwe.
Wildlife in Namibia is more abundant than in other African countries. “In southern Africa, for example, the elephant population is much larger than in East Africa,” emphasizes the researcher.
Nearly 57,000 kg of meat
A total of 723 animals are to be culled in communal areas and national parks, including 30 hippos, 83 elephants, 60 buffalo, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebras, 100 elands and 50 impalas. “Cutting 83 elephants from a population of 20,000 will not have any major ecological consequences, meaning that the survival of the species will not be compromised by these culls.precise Marion Valeix. However, it is essential that these samples are carried out methodically in order to preserve the most vulnerable animal populations.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the first slaughters have already produced nearly 57,000 kg of meat, thus meeting the food needs of a population of which more than half (1.4 million out of 2.5 million according to the World Food Programme) suffer from food insecurity.
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In addition to ensuring a livelihood, the minister also expressed his desire to regulate access to resources, often disputed between humans and animals. “When it gets too hot and resources become scarce, wild animals, such as elephants, may venture out of national parks in search of new sources of livelihood, including water, which can lead to tensions over this resource,” explains the researcher.
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