Zimbabwe sells rights to hunt 500 endangered elephants

Elephants drinking water, animal news
Elephants drinking water, photo by Charl Durand on Unsplash

Zimbabwe is selling rights to shoot up to 500 endangered elephants this year to make money, the country’s wildlife agency said Monday. Per dead elephant, the government can make up to $10,000, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo told AFP.

Farawo said elephant hunting was allowed during the country’s April to October rainy season. Hunters “require more assisting personnel like trackers, protective hunters and chefs,” he added. “All this will be paid for and means more for revenue.” 

Last month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the African savanna elephant as “endangered” and the African forest elephant as “critically endangered”, citing poaching and loss of habitat as the main reasons their population had declined.

Elephant-human interaction is a growing problem in Asia and Africa, and so far, there’s no good solution. With the number of humans growing worldwide, the living space of wild animals becomes smaller and smaller.

Farawo defended the decision to continue issuing hunting permits, noting that the practice has been going on since 1991, and there was “no need to make noise about it”.

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1 COMMENT

  1. It is evil to kill the elephants. How can this be stopped. If the leaders want money, start up industry and get people working and make the country work. Not kill the wildlife for money. How stupid and uneducated is that. Once gone the elephants will never be replaced and what will the government do then. Shoot something else. In my world you work to get money, you do not kill and steal.

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