The Environment Minister in the Parliament of Zimbabwe recently announced its decision to cull 200 elephants to ease food shortage amidst the severe drought that has gripped the nation since October 2023. The elephants will be culled in Hwange, Mbire, Tsholotsho and Chiredzi districts. These four districts are known for increasing the incidence of human-wildlife conflict, as per the authorities.
What prompted the decision to cull 200 elephants?
Southern Africa is facing the worst drought conditions in over 100 years due to the effect of the El Niño induced dry spell, which has been intensified by the increasing effects of climate change since last year. In the month of April, Zimbabwe became the third country in the region to announce a state of emergency after Zambia and Malawi. Currently, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority are working on modalities to cull 200 elephants and distribute the meat among communities whose crops have failed and are in dire need of proteins.
The severe drought wiped out the majority of the maize crops in countries like Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe and depleted major water resources. The drought has affected more than 61 million people in the region, which includes almost half of the population of Zimbabwe, who, along with the rest, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). Although the El Niño event has ended, its far-reaching impact is bound to have tragic consequences for the coming months, including a rise in acute malnutrition, water scarcity and cholera outbreaks.
Zimbabwe has the second largest elephant population in the world after Botswana which is known for the largest elephant population in the world that stands at 130,000. The rationale behind the move to cull 200 elephants is derived from the fact that the current population of elephants exceeds the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. It is a reasonable step in order to decongest the conservation parks, which currently house more than 84,000 elephants against its maximum capacity to sustain only 55,000 elephants.
Again, rising instances of human-wildlife conflict also fuel the decision, especially if the scarcity of resources is to be considered amidst the ongoing crisis. Last year, 50 people were killed due to elephant attacks, and this year, this number has reached 31 till now.
The decision to cull 200 elephants is in line with Namibia’s last month’s announcement to cull over 700 animals, including 83 elephants, to meet food shortage in the drought hit nation. It has been argued that the measure will not only help it to ensure food security but also enable it to better manage rising cases of human-wildlife conflict. With resource scarcity that characterizes such prolonged drought, the authority justified that inadequate water and food would escalate further tensions between the wildlife species and the humans. Besides, managing the exponential rise in the population will contribute to better conservation efforts.
What are the concerns related to the decision to cull 200 elephants?
Conservationists have criticized the decision to cull 200 elephants and believe that there are sustainable measures that could be employed instead of the mindless culling of the gentle giants. Some have also argued that meat is not a staple diet of Zimbabwe and the country needs grains to meet its food shortage and not proteins derived from animals. Besides, with reference to the concern raised by the PETA when earlier Namibia announced similar plans, the apprehension about the spread of zoonotic diseases from wild animal meat consumption remains.
Elephants, being keystone species exert considerable impact on the ecosystem of which they are a part. Their protection is often interlinked with the well-being of other species cohabiting in the area. Therefore, eliminating elephants can have a long-term environmental impact, which will unfold in the related ecosystem in the coming years.
From the economic angle, the decision to cull 200 elephants seems to be a financial loss for the tourism industry, as live elephants are known to draw tourists to this part of the world. The tourism sector contributes a handsome share to the Zimbabwean economy by being one of the country’s significant employers and bringing in much-needed foreign exchange and tax revenues. The decision to cull 200 elephants can have a serious repercussion on the tourists who might abandon Zimbabwe on ethical considerations. Additionally, the moral justification behind the decision to cull 200 elephants is not satisfactory if one considers the anthropogenic civilization’s contribution in accelerating the climate crisis where other species find themselves at the receiving end.
History of Elephant Conservation in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe boasts of a proud history of successful elephant conservation. Elephant populations in most of Africa significantly reduced by the late 19th century. According to Zimbabwe National Elephant Management Plan (2021-2025), in 1897, approximately Africa exported 100,000 tonnes of ivory. Consequently, in 1900 extinction of elephants in the south of the Zambezi River was feared. While the number of elephants was just around 4000 elephants in 1900, more than one hundred years later, in 2014, this number had increased to an estimated 82,092.
 Although 45,000 elephants were culled in the protected areas between 1960 and 1989 to limit elephant population growth, the primary reason back then was to reduce elephant-induced woodland habitat change. The elephant populations grew exponentially between 1990 and 2006, followed by a reduction in the following decade owing to an upsurge in illegal killing. However, the overall population in the country has remained at an estimated 82,000 elephants, which is more than twice the national target population envisaged in the 1980s.
What are Zimbabwe’s future plans regarding elephants?
The country has been trying to lobby with neighboring countries like Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zambia for the lifting of the ban on ivory trade and other elephant products at the 19th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) held in Panama in 14-25 November 2022. They want the restoration of the ivory trade as that will enable them to utilize the money earned from trading ivory and other elephant products collected from the animals after natural death in funding their conservation efforts.
The decision is justified on the grounds of their economic backwardness as these countries are already under severe fund crunch and facing substantial budget cuts in recent times, which are adversely affecting their conservation programmes.
Recently the cluster of nations in the KAZA summit 2024 also threatened to pull out of CITES if their demands are not fulfilled. The Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) is an enormous conservation area stretching over 520,000 square kilometers extending over five southern African nations, including Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which share borders along the Okavango and Zambezi river basins.
In the first African Elephant Summit in 2024 in Hwange, northern Zimbabwe, 14 African countries, along with two large consumer markets of ivory, namely China and Japan, reiterated their demand, aimed at gaining economic value from the ballooning elephant population. Zimbabwe currently holds ivory stockpiles worth about $600,000 which are unable to be sold due to CITES imposed ban. CITES has imposed a ban on elephant parts since 1989.
FAQ
Why is Zimbabwe in the News?
The Environment Minister in the Parliament of Zimbabwe recently announced its decision to cull 200 elephants to ease food shortage amidst the severe drought that has gripped the nation since October 2023.
What prompted the decision to cull 200 elephants?
Southern Africa is facing the worst drought conditions in over 100 years due to the effect of the El Niño induced dry spell, which has been intensified by the increasing effects of climate change since last year. The severe drought wiped out the majority of the maise crops in countries like Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe and depleted major water resources.
What are the concerns related to the decision to cull 200 elephants?
Conservationists have criticised the decision to cull 200 elephants and believe that there are sustainable measures that could be employed instead of the mindless culling of the gentle giants. Some have also argued that meat is not a staple diet of Zimbabwe and the country needs grains to meet its food shortage and not proteins derived from animals. Besides, with reference to the concern raised by the PETA when earlier Namibia announced similar plans, the apprehension about the spread of zoonotic diseases from wild animal meat consumption remains.
What is the historical backdrop of Elephant Conservation in Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe boasts of a proud history of successful elephant conservation. According to Zimbabwe National Elephant Management Plan (2021-2025), in 1897, approximately Africa exported 100,000 tonnes of ivory. Consequently, in 1900 extinction of elephants in the south of the Zambezi River was feared. While the number of elephants was just around 4000 elephants in 1900, more than one hundred years later, in 2014, this number had increased to an estimated 82,092.
What are Zimbabwe’s future plans regarding elephants?
The country has been trying to lobby with neighbouring countries like Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zambia for the lifting of the ban on ivory trade and other elephant products at the 19th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the CITES. They want the restoration of the ivory trade as that will enable them to utilize the money earned from trading ivory and other elephant products collected from the animals after natural death in funding their conservation efforts.
