The southern African nation of Namibia is planning to butcher hundreds of its most majestic animals to feed some of the 1.4 million people – nearly half the country – who are in a hunger crisis amid the worst drought in a century.
The plan, under which the country will kill 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, to feed people, is “necessary” and “in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of citizens,” the country’s ministry of environment, forestry and tourism said in a news release.
This strategy is not unheard-of. “Well-managed, sustainable harvesting of healthy wild animal populations can be a precious source of food for communities,” Rose Mwebaza, the director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Africa Office, wrote in an email.
Much of southern Africa is being affected by drought. More than 30 million people across the region are affected, the UN World Food Program said in June. “There is no food,” said Juliane Zeidler, the country director of the World Wildlife Fund in Namibia.
As the drought dries out staple crops and kills livestock in the region, Namibia is looking past agriculture to its wild animals for food.
The animals are not just being killed for meat. Namibia is also trying to minimize dangerous encounters with humans which, it said, would be expected to increase during the drought as animals and humans sought out water and vegetation.
The situation is dire. Last week, a United Nations spokesperson said that 84% of Namibia’s food resources were “already exhausted.”
Namibia’s turn to wild game is nothing new. People in the region eat at least some of the animals listed in the environmental ministry’s cull list, like zebra, blue wildebeest and impala, according to a recent Namibian government report on the country’s game meat industry.
The plan, under which the country will kill 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, to feed people, is “necessary” and “in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of citizens,” the country’s ministry of environment, forestry and tourism said in a news release.
This strategy is not unheard-of. “Well-managed, sustainable harvesting of healthy wild animal populations can be a precious source of food for communities,” Rose Mwebaza, the director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Africa Office, wrote in an email.
Much of southern Africa is being affected by drought. More than 30 million people across the region are affected, the UN World Food Program said in June. “There is no food,” said Juliane Zeidler, the country director of the World Wildlife Fund in Namibia.
As the drought dries out staple crops and kills livestock in the region, Namibia is looking past agriculture to its wild animals for food.
The animals are not just being killed for meat. Namibia is also trying to minimize dangerous encounters with humans which, it said, would be expected to increase during the drought as animals and humans sought out water and vegetation.
The situation is dire. Last week, a United Nations spokesperson said that 84% of Namibia’s food resources were “already exhausted.”
Namibia’s turn to wild game is nothing new. People in the region eat at least some of the animals listed in the environmental ministry’s cull list, like zebra, blue wildebeest and impala, according to a recent Namibian government report on the country’s game meat industry.
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