World Animal Protection Monitoring Namibia Over Wildlife Culling Plan
World Animal Protection is deeply concerned about the recent reports of Namibia’s government decision to cull wildlife as part of efforts to address the severe drought affecting the country.
The culling of over 700 wild animals, including 83 elephants, 300 zebras, 100 eland antelopes, 100 blue wildebeests, 60 buffaloes, 50 impalas and 30 hippos, raises significant ethical and ecological concerns that warrant immediate attention.
The short-term measures, such as wildlife culling, may not address the root causes of the crisis in conserving or preserving wildlife resources.
Edith Kabesiime, wildlife campaigns manager at WAP said: “While we appreciate that the drought situation is a precarious one, culling animals to feed starving people is not a sustainable solution.”
Clearly, with increased risks posed by climate change, droughts will continue to occur, perhaps more frequently, with even more severity.
Namibia, according to WAP, should look into putting in place more innovative and sustainable solutions like irrigation fed agriculture rather than over relying on rains to ensure sustained food security for her people.
Namibia is not only putting people in harm’s way, but also endangering the whole world as culling hundreds of wild animals to feed people could easily create more problems than solutions.
WAP urges the government of Namibia to tread carefully to avoid shifting perceptions of wildlife from sentient beings deserving protection to commodities.
This approach risks turning communities away from being wildlife friendly, potentially encouraging poaching, game meat consumption and threatening the delicate balance between humans and nature.
True sustainability, says WAP, lies in finding ways to support both the people and the planet without sacrificing one for the other.
