Namibia plans to cull hundreds of its most majestic wild animals, including dozens of elephants and hippopotamuses, to provide meat for its 1.4 million people — nearly half the southern African nation’s population — who are reeling under the worst drought in a century.
A total 723 animals, including 30 hippopotamuses, 60 buffaloes, 50 impalas, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebras, 83 elephants, and 100 elands, a type of antelope, are on the kill list. More than 150 animals have been killed already, and the carcasses have yielded about 63 tonnes of meat.
“This exercise is necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens,” the country’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said in a press statement on August 26.
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What has led to the drought in Namibia?
Namibia is located in drought-prone southern Africa, and frequently witnesses such events — it had declared national emergencies because of extreme droughts in 2013, 2016 and 2019. But the ongoing drought has been especially widespread and devastating, Juliane Zeidler, the country director of the World Wildlife Fund in Namibia, told The New York Times.
The drought began in Botswana in October 2023, spread and intensified across Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, and affects most of southern Africa today, according to a report by the European Commission.
The situation is so bad mainly because of El Niño, a weather pattern associated with extreme heat and dry spells in many parts of the world and the ocean. An El Niño event returned after seven years in 2023, leading to above-average temperatures and minimal precipitation across the region. Severe soil moisture deficits and vegetation stress followed, resulting in drought.
Also, numerous studies have found that with rising temperatures due to climate change, extreme weather events such as droughts and floods have become more frequent and intense.
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Also in Explained | Warming up to climate change: How does climate change impact extreme weather events?
How has the drought impacted Namibia?
Food availability is usually low in Namibia from July through September, and the situation has been made worse by the drought. Staple crops such as maize have dried up, large numbers of livestock have died, and almost 84% of the country’s food reserves are exhausted, a United Nations spokesman said on August 23. As stocks have diminished, prices have skyrocketed, curtailing access to food for a large number of people.
“Between April and June 2024, an estimated 1.2 million people…in Namibia face high levels of acute food insecurity…and require urgent action to reduce food gaps and protect livelihoods. These are the most vulnerable groups…in both urban and rural areas,” the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in a report in July.
Severe acute malnutrition among children under five has increased, and deaths have been reported in some areas, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said.
OCHA has also flagged the increased vulnerability of women due to the drought: “As women and girls are required to walk longer distances to collect food and water, their risk of being subjected to gender-based violence also increases.”
How would the culling of wild animals help?
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It is not just for meat that Namibia wants to cull wild animals. The government fears that the drought will force the animals to migrate in search of food and water, which could bring them into conflict with human populations. The country has a significant number of wild animals, including 24,000 elephants, one of the largest populations in the world.
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism statement said it also hopes that culling of some animals would reduce the effect of the drought on wildlife. It would help “in managing the current grazing pressure and water availability…in some parks and communal areas where we feel numbers exceed available grazing and water,” the ministry said.
Is killing wild animals for meat unusual?
No. Wild animals of various species are hunted for food, sport, or trophies around the world. Animals such as zebras, blue wildebeest, and impala, which are on Namibia’s cull list, are commonly eaten by people in the southern African region, The NYT report said.
Rose Mwebaza, director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Africa Office, told The NYT that “provided the harvesting of these animals is done using scientifically proven, sustainable methods that consider animal welfare and are in line with both domestic and international commitments and legislation, there should be no cause for concern”.
