Increasing hunting quotas may solve elephant conflict
Increasing the own-use and trophy-hunting utilisation quotas for elephants is one of the options the environment ministry may consider to reduce elephant human-wildlife conflict.
Currently, conservancies each receive a quota of 34 elephants per year and this also includes quotas for traditional festivals.
Meanwhile, the trophy-hunting quota is based on Namibia’s CITES export quota of 90 elephants per year.
Elly Hamunyela, the director of scientific services within the ministry, said elephants account for the majority of human-wildlife conflict cases in Namibia.
“This is perhaps not generic to Namibia; I think this is also the same in most of the other southern African countries.”
Hamunyela added that this is because the elephant population has been increasing.
“Officially, we are talking about 24 000 elephants in the KAZA area of Namibia. That is an official estimate. That is only in the KAZA component of Namibia, which means we have now exceeded that 24 000 elephants.”
Conflict
Even with utilisation quotas, the country continues to experience an increase in human-elephant conflict.
“Because of that, we believe that we need to apply more mitigation or management measures, especially targeting sub-populations to try and reduce this conflict.”
Hamunyela pointed out that they do not allocate quotas for problem-animal control.
“But we do allow some animals to be harvested, specifically problem animals.”
She explained that the minister can approve that a problem animal be hunted as a trophy animal and this benefits communities, because they receive the meat from these animals.
Hamunyela noted that if they increase trophy-hunting quotas for conservancies, for example, this will mean conservancies will receive more benefits from trophy hunting and will therefore tolerate the elephants better than at the moment.
Currently, conservancies each receive a quota of 34 elephants per year and this also includes quotas for traditional festivals.
Meanwhile, the trophy-hunting quota is based on Namibia’s CITES export quota of 90 elephants per year.
Elly Hamunyela, the director of scientific services within the ministry, said elephants account for the majority of human-wildlife conflict cases in Namibia.
“This is perhaps not generic to Namibia; I think this is also the same in most of the other southern African countries.”
Hamunyela added that this is because the elephant population has been increasing.
“Officially, we are talking about 24 000 elephants in the KAZA area of Namibia. That is an official estimate. That is only in the KAZA component of Namibia, which means we have now exceeded that 24 000 elephants.”
Conflict
Even with utilisation quotas, the country continues to experience an increase in human-elephant conflict.
“Because of that, we believe that we need to apply more mitigation or management measures, especially targeting sub-populations to try and reduce this conflict.”
Hamunyela pointed out that they do not allocate quotas for problem-animal control.
“But we do allow some animals to be harvested, specifically problem animals.”
She explained that the minister can approve that a problem animal be hunted as a trophy animal and this benefits communities, because they receive the meat from these animals.
Hamunyela noted that if they increase trophy-hunting quotas for conservancies, for example, this will mean conservancies will receive more benefits from trophy hunting and will therefore tolerate the elephants better than at the moment.
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Namibian Sun
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