Zimbabwean authorities have outlined plans to cull 200 elephants to feed communities facing acute hunger after the worst drought in four decades.
The El Niño-induced drought wiped out crops in southern Africa, affecting 68 million people and causing food shortages across the region.
“We can confirm that we are planning to cull about 200 elephants across the country. We are working on modalities on how we are going to do it,” said Tinashe Farawo, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwe parks and wildlife authority.
He said the elephant meat would be distributed to communities in Zimbabwe hit by the drought.
The cull, the first in the country since 1988, was first reported on Friday, and follows neighbouring Namibia’s decision last month to cull 83 elephants and distribute meat to people affected by the drought.
It will take place in Hwange, Mbire, Tsholotsho and Chiredzi districts.
More than 200,000 elephants are estimated to live in a conservation area spread over five southern African countries – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola and Namibia – making the region home to one of the largest elephant populations worldwide.
Farawo said the culling is also part of the country’s efforts to decongest its parks, which can sustain only 55,000 elephants. Zimbabwe is home to more than 84,000 elephants.
“It’s an effort to decongest the parks in the face of drought. The numbers are just a drop in the ocean because we are talking of 200 [elephants] and we are sitting on plus 84,000, which is big,” he said.
With such a severe drought, human-wildlife conflicts can escalate as resources become scarcer. Last year, 50 people were killed in elephant attacks in Zimbabwe.
The country, which is lauded for its conservation efforts and growing its elephant population, has been lobbying the UN’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to reopen trade of ivory and live elephants.
Zimbabwe has about $600,000 (£450,000) worth of ivory stockpiles which it cannot sell.
