Minister Declares War on Problem Animals

ABSALOM SHIGWEDHA, THE NAMIBIAN

GOVERNMENT says urgent measures should be put in place to reduce incidents of people being attacked by wild animals, as these incidents are on the rise.

Environment and Tourism Minister Willem Konjore told a press conference in Windhoek on Monday that four people had been killed by elephants in the Caprivi and Erongo regions during the past six weeks.

Another person was seriously injured by an elephant at Impalila Island in Caprivi.

He said his Ministry was developing a Human Wildlife Conflict Management Policy to address this problem.

He said the policy was in its final stages and would soon be endorsed by the Ministry's management before being submitted to Cabinet for approval.

As a temporary measure, the Ministry will allow the hunting of problem elephants and crocodiles outside national parks and conservancies in the Caprivi, Kavango and Kunene regions for the next two years.

Konjore said these animals had to be clearly identified as problem animals by the Ministry's officials.

In the Caprivi Region, five elephants and two crocodiles a year will be hunted in the areas of Malengalenga, Batubaja, Kapani, Linyanti, Chichimanu, Bununa up to Masokotwani.

Three elephants and two crocodiles will be hunted in the areas of Lisikili, Bukalo, Lusese, Kabbe and further to the eastern floodplains in Caprivi.

In the Kavango Region, two elephants per year will be hunted in the areas outside and west of the Khaudom National Park and areas outside the Mangetti Game Camp, while seven crocodiles will be hunted on the Kavango River, particularly in the areas of Nzinze, Thipanana, Ndiyona, Mupini, Kakuro and Mupapama.

In the Kunene Region, ten problem elephants have already been killed this year, Konjore said.

He said his Ministry's officials were investigating whether it was necessary to allocate a further hunting quota of elephants.

Makes a lot more sense than our government wanting to hire professional shooters (won't call them hunters) to thin out the elk herd in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Stonecreek, I can tell you that there are a lot more human-animal conflicts on the way. I came back from the Caprivi where I hunted elephant. There I saw wholesale human invasions of hunting blocks and concessions. Hamlets and villages are springing up everywhere on publicly owned land. These are squatter villages which the government refuses to interrupt because it would not be politically correct. Large herds of cattle are now grazing hunting concessions. You will be seeing a lot of reports of elephants raiding and killing around these new settlements. I have seen this trend also in Zimbabwe and especially in Central African Republic (cattle, foreign fighters, refugees, nomads, herdsmen, poachers, etc.). I suspect we all are hunting at the end of the era of free-ranging wildlife, that is, in the era before the wildlife has to be confined behind tall fences in order to keep civilization out.