Government considers culling elephants to feed starving communities

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Zimbabwean government is considering culling elephants to feed communities struggling with starvation, Minister of Environment, Climate, and Wildlife Sithembiso Nyoni announced in parliament yesterday.

The move comes as the country grapples with a devastating drought that has left over seven million people in need of food aid. The government aims to utilize the meat from culled elephants to provide protein to starving communities.

Minister Nyoni emphasized that the culling process would be done within the confines of the law and in consultation with local communities. “We are having discussions with Zim Parks and some communities to count the elephants, mobilize the women to dry the meat, and package it to ensure it gets to those who need it,” she explained.

“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,” she added.

The minister acknowledged that Zimbabwe’s elephant population has exceeded the recommended eco-system balance, leading to starvation and deaths of elephants. “We have more elephants than our forests can accommodate,” she said.

Furthermore, Minister Nyoni highlighted the issue of human-wildlife conflict, which is prevalent in most parks. “When there is overpopulation of wildlife in a specific park, they will then seek to go outside the park to look for other resources such as water or greenery. When that happens, they will then come into contact with humans and conflicts begin,” she explained.

While the move has sparked debate, Minister Nyoni assured that the government is working hard to ensure the culling process is done humanely and within international conventions.

Additionally, the move is expected to help mitigate human-wildlife conflict, which has become a major concern in many parts of the country.