A Coalition Of Groups Joins Forces To Oppose Namibia & Zimbabwe’s Horrific Wildlife Cull

A coalition of animal protection and conservation organizations, including World Animal News, Peace 4 Animals, Born Free USA, and Born Free Foundation, expresses deep concern over the recent announcements by several African nations to cull large numbers of elephants and other species, including within national parks. These actions threaten the survival of these iconic animals and jeopardize the integrity of critical ecosystems.

In late August 2024, Namibia announced plans to slaughter 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants—a number later raised to a staggering 1,002. Soon after, Zimbabwe followed suit, declaring its intent to kill at least 200 elephants.

The brutal measures are being justified under the guise of providing meat to drought-stricken communities, alleviating pressure on land and water resources, mitigating human-elephant conflict, and addressing so-called wildlife overpopulation. These excuses mask the devastating impact such mass killings will have on vulnerable species and fragile ecosystems.

However, while the organizations acknowledge the severity of one of the worst droughts in decades in southern Africa, the killing of large numbers of wild animals cannot be justified for the following reasons:

1. Culling fragile wildlife populations to feed people is not sustainable and cannot provide food security to millions of people requiring food assistance during a prolonged drought. Distributing meat from wildlife can also drive poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

2. Culling does not resolve human-wildlife conflict. Rather, it further threatens fragile wildlife populations, fractures the social structure and stability of wildlife populations (e.g., elephants), traumatizes surviving animals, and can lead to aggression towards humans, thereby increasing future conflict.

3. The slaughter of elephants results in the stockpiling of tusks, increasing pressure to undermine international bans on ivory trade and open up ivory markets. We are concerned that Namibia and Zimbabwe have been at the forefront of efforts to reverse the international ban on the ivory trade to generate income. This would inevitably fuel demand and increase poaching pressure, with devastating consequences for remaining elephants across their entire range.

4. Killing wild animals that are the basis for the tourism economy threatens sustainable livelihoods. In Zimbabwe, tourism is the third-largest economic sector and contributed US$433 million to the country’s GDP. This industry is heavily reliant on healthy wildlife populations and intact protected areas and could suffer significantly from the culling of wild animals.

5. The move to cull elephants is a major policy reversal. It was carried out in Zimbabwe and South Africa between the mid-1960s and the mid-1990s, but was abandoned after heavy criticism due to the cruelty and trauma inflicted on these highly intelligent and social animals.

6. African savanna elephants are categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Their populations have declined by at least 60% across the continent over the last 50 years. While southern Africa has been less affected by these declines and is home to the largest populations of savanna elephants, claims of recent population growth and overpopulation have no scientific basis. Recent studies show that the populations in southern Africa have remained largely unchanged since 2014.

Wildlife and conservation groups are deeply concerned that the proposed culls may ultimately serve the interests of those who seek to profit from the commercial exploitation of these threatened wildlife populations. In addition, such actions could prioritize financial gain over the protection and preservation of endangered species.

The Center for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) in Zimbabwe, Zambia-based African Rivers, and the South Africa-based Pro Elephant Network have also expressed concerns regarding the proposals.

The current drought affecting parts of southern Africa is devastating for both people and wildlife. Nevertheless, the governments of the countries concerned are not devoid of resources to implement effective measures to address the problem and should use the drought as an opportunity to employ stronger land governance and prioritize sustainable agricultural production among smallholder farmers in rural areas.

We note that experts have suggested a number of rational and sustainable alternatives to address the effects of the drought, most importantly, the provision of staple food such as grain to ensure food security. In addition, a wide range of measures and policies are available that have been proven effective in preventing and solving human-wildlife conflict without resorting to the indiscriminate killing of wild animals. These measures should be explored and implemented.

We urge the governments of these countries to abandon their culling plans. Instead, they should allocate resources towards proven, humane, and sustainable alternatives that address the challenges faced by both humans and wildlife.

We also call on donor governments and agencies to link the provision of aid to the implementation of effective and sustainable measures to ensure food security and human-wildlife coexistence, while also protecting increasingly threatened wildlife populations.

You can find the list of organizations uniting to condemn the elephant and wildlife culls HERE!