10 killed in wildlife attacks

In 2021, a total of 590 human-wildlife conflict cases was reported, which included 10 people who were killed in wildlife attacks.Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta said this when he tabled the ministry’s annual budget of N$478.9 million for the 2022/2023 financial year in Parliament this week.He said human-wildlife conflict is a challenge the ministry continues to make concerted efforts to address.According to him, 360 cases of crop damage were reported, for which N$770 000 was paid to those affected, while 206 cases of livestock loss were reported, which saw over N$1.2 million paid. Meanwhile, 14 injuries to people reported, and a total of N$140 000 was compensated for these injuries.“Ten human lives were lost due to crocodile, hippo and elephant attacks, for which a total of N$1 million was paid out to families for funeral assistance,” Shifeta said.The minister added that under the Human-Wildlife Conflict Self Reliance Scheme, over N$3.5 million was paid to 46 communal conservancies to offset losses incurred by their respective members as a result of human-wildlife conflict incidents.Poaching remains a problemShifeta went on to say that Namibia is unfortunately still losing significant amounts of wild animals to poaching, targeting particularly high-value species such as rhinos, elephants and pangolins.A total of 43 rhinos was poached in 2021 compared to 40 in 2020 and 56 in 2019. So far, two rhinos were poached in 2022.According to him, elephant poaching continued to decline with eight poached in 2021 compared to 12 in 2020 and 13 in 2019.He said the country has also recorded a total of 320 cases of crimes involving pangolins in the last five years since 2017.This includes 43 in 2017, 62 in 2018, 96 in 2019, 59 in 2020 and 60 in 2021. Authorities confiscated 1 505 pangolin products, which included 15 carcasses, 81 live animals, 193 skins, six skin pieces and 1 210 scales, from suspects.In the upcoming year, the ministry is planning to develop conservation strategies for pangolin, which is the most trafficked species in Namibia, and the African Wild Dog, the most threatened large carnivore species in the country.He also pointed out that Namibia now has 86 registered communal conservancies and 43 community forests, which cover approximately 22% of the country’s landmass.“When this is added to the 20 state protected areas and other conservation areas, it gives an area of over 43% of the country’s landmass under some form of conservation management in Namibia,” Shifeta said.

10 killed in wildlife attacks

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-06

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10 killed in wildlife attacks

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-06

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