Namibia has said that the reason for the special wildlife slaughter operation is the record drought.
Namibia, located in southwest Africa, has not suffered from a drought as bad as it is now in a hundred years. Experts attribute the cause to the El Niño weather phenomenon.
Due to the drought, the grain harvest is only about half of what it was before, and the water reserves have dropped to 30 percent of their usual level.
Due to the situation, Namibia has to resort to an emergency solution: A total of 723 wild animals are hunted for human consumption. The state’s kill list includes 30 hippos, 60 bison, 100 wildebeest, 300 zebra, 83 elephants and 100 deer.
According to Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the decision to cull wildlife is in line with the country’s constitution, which states that natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibians.
Namibia declared a state of emergency due to the drought in May, reports American media CNN. According to it, 1.4 million – or about half of the population – are at risk of suffering from a lack of food.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the wild animal population is being thinned in areas where food and water resources for wild animals are insufficient. They also want to thin out the fauna so that animals looking for water and food near human settlements would not attack people.
Professional hunters and gamekeepers take care of the hunting of animals.
Source: Reuters