Drought-Stricken Countries Kill Elephants to Feed the Hungry

JOHANNESBURG—Countries in southern Africa are slaughtering elephants and other wild animals to feed their starving citizens amid the worst drought in more than a century.

In an unusual move, Namibia is killing what it says will total more than 700 hippos, elephants, zebras and other animals from a handful of national parks to feed its hungry population, according to the country’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. Last month, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, or ZimParks, said it would cull 200 elephants and distribute the meat to people suffering drought-related food shortages. Namibia last culled elephants in 2016, while Zimbabwe last culled the massive herbivores in 1988, for population control.

Around 68 million people in the region are in need of humanitarian aid because of the impact of the El Niño-induced drought , according to the Southern African Development Community, a 16-member regional economic bloc. The El Niño weather phenomenon, which emerged in June last year, has worsened a severe rainfall deficit across southern Africa . The region experienced its driest February in 100 years, receiving 20% of the usual rainfall at a critical time for crop production, according to the United Nations World Food Program. Nearly half the population of Namibia is in urgent need of food assistance, the WFP says.

“Southern Africa has experienced the worst impacts of the 2023-to-2024 El Niño, and is facing the risk of a deepening and widespread hunger crisis,” said a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “More than half of the annual harvest has been destroyed, leading to rapidly depleting stocks and increasing food prices.”

Namibia, Malawi, Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe have declared states of emergency, while Angola, Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa have also been severely affected by the drought.

Now governments are scrambling to prevent starvation. Although not regularly consumed by most communities in the region, elephants, hippos and other wild game are occasionally eaten. And governments argue that culling the animals solves two problems: filling hungry bellies, as well as alleviating grazing pressure and water scarcity, and reducing conflict between locals and wild animals in drought-stricken areas.

“It is important we manage the population,” said Romeo Muyunda , a spokesman for Namibia’s Environment Ministry. “If we don’t intervene it may be catastrophic.”

In Namibia, the authorities have hired professional hunters and safari businesses to conduct the cull. As of Aug. 26, the most recent data available, 262 animals had already been killed, resulting in about 125,000 pounds of meat, the Environment Ministry said. In Zimbabwe, authorities are in the process of issuing permits for the culling.

Internally displaced Somali children Ali Abdulahi, Osman Abdulahi and Mohamed Abdulahi stand near the carcass of their dead livestock following severe droughts near Dollow, Gedo Region, Somalia May 26, 2022. Picture taken May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar/File Photo

There are around 228,000 elephants in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to a 2022 aerial survey of those countries, representing more than half of the savanna elephants in Africa.

“The ecosystem that we have cannot sustain the numbers [of animals] that we have,” said Tinashe Farawo , spokesman for ZimParks. “We are trying to deal with the problem of overpopulation. The meat that we are going to recover, we’re going to feed our people and communities.”

Some wildlife-advocacy groups, however, warn that culling can prove detrimental to conservation efforts.

“While we recognise the severity of the drought, killing elephants will not adequately solve the pressing food crisis,” said Tennyson Williams , the director for Africa at World Animal Protection, a not-for-profit animal-welfare organization. He suggested that Zimbabwe seek humanitarian aid for drought-affected communities, work to build up the country’s irrigation infrastructure and try to secure financial support to relocate elephants from overpopulated areas.

Other conservationists worry mass hunting will wreak considerable damage on the intricate social fabric of close-knit elephant herds, which are usually led by a matriarch.

“Elephants have complex social lives and, therefore, culling impacts those left behind,” said Kate Evans , founder and head of research at Elephants for Africa, a research and education nonprofit. Evans said killing large numbers of elephants can also weaken the genetic diversity of the remaining population.

“We need this to be done as professionally as possible,” Muyunda said. “We are looking at not traumatizing the animals that are going to remain.”

Elephant hunting is legal—with a permit—in both Namibia and Zimbabwe, as well as a handful of other African countries with stable populations. A trophy hunt typically costs tens of thousands of dollars, which governments and proponents say helps to fund conservation efforts. In Zimbabwe, elephant meat is also distributed during hunting seasons and in cases in which rogue animals are killed after endangering villagers living near wildlife-conservation areas, Farawo said.

During the October-to-May growing season, 80% of Zimbabwe received below-average rainfall, resulting in farmers losing approximately 70% of their crops, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In July, USAID said it would provide $39 million in drought relief to Zimbabwe, which would supply more than 500,000 people with food assistance, a fraction of the six million people that the Zimbabwean government and U.N. estimate will require it. USAID also said in July that it would give Namibia $4.9 million to support drought-affected populations there.

Culling game from national parks isn’t a long-term solution, experts warn. Communities in southern Africa need to act rapidly to adapt to a changing climate, they say. High temperatures around the globe have been unrelenting: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that global surface temperatures in August were the warmest since records began in 1850, marking the 15th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures.

“Climate shocks like this one are only going to become more frequent and more severe because of climate change,” said Reena Ghelani , the U.N.’s climate-crisis coordinator for El Niño response. “We can’t afford to be in firefighting mode all the time.”

Ghelani said communities in southern Africa need help to develop climate-smart agriculture, invest in other sources of livelihoods and make investments in water infrastructure.

Some relief appears to be on the horizon, with NOAA predicting the emergence of the La Niña weather phenomenon before the end of the year. La Niña is expected to bring plentiful rainfall to southern Africa during this year’s growing season. But above-average rainfall could also cause flooding, soil erosion and an increased risk of landslides, according to the U.N.