Parliament of Zimbabwe receives petition against elephant culling

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

A petition opposing the government’s decision to cull 200 elephants has been submitted to the Parliament of Zimbabwe.

The Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), a Zimbabwean registered trust, presented the petition on October 4.

According to the petition, “The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife and Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZIMPARKS) are… tasked with the protection, management and administration of the wildlife of Zimbabwe.”

The petition states that the decision to cull elephants is unwarranted and will have devastating consequences for conservation and tourism.

“We believe the proposed slaughter of elephants will open a floodgate to poaching in a region where at least 28,000 elephants are killed by poachers every year.”

The petition also raises concerns about the impact on tourism, which is a significant contributor to Zimbabwe’s economy.

“Tourism is one of the 4 pillars that anchor our economy – contributing on average 5.8% to the country’s GDP and 8.6% of the total employment.”

Furthermore, the petition highlights the risk of zoonotic diseases associated with consuming wild animal meat.

“The World Health Organization has also warned that ‘meat or by-products of wild animals are particularly high risk due to the large number of new or undocumented pathogens known to exist in some wild animal populations’.”

The petitioners are calling on Parliament to exercise its constitutional role and hold the Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Wildlife accountable.

Government considers culling elephants to feed starving communities

“We beseech the Parliament of Zimbabwe to address these issues of public concern… Stop the proposed killing of elephants and investigate the real causes of the rising Human-Wildlife Conflict and recommend mitigating measures.”