Hunters defend Namibia’s elephant sale
The Namibia Professional Hunting Association said in order to conserve elephants for future generations, conservationists need to put their emotions aside.
ELLANIE SMIT
WINDHOEK
If the survival of elephants and other game species are to be ensured in a sustainable manner, Namibia has to accept that unpopular decisions, in the public eye, need to be taken.
This is according to the Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha), which issued a statement with regards to the public outcry about the sale of 170 Namibian elephants.
Napha said the sale of the elephants from different parts of Namibia has resulted in a major uproar, especially on social media.
At the beginning of last December, the environment ministry advertised a tender putting 170 elephants up for sale in response to the drought and the increase in animal numbers coupled with human-elephant conflict incidences.
These elephants are from the Omatjetje, Grootfontein-Kavango Cattle Ranch and the Grootfontein-Tsumkwe areas, as well as from the Kamanjab commercial farming area.
Napha said, bluntly put, the removal of the elephants from the identified hotspots will have no effect whatsoever on the elephant population at large.
“In no way does it jeopardise elephant conservation in protected areas or in communal conservancies.”
Emotional debate
The main problem is that it is an emotional debate by people who live detached from nature and far away from any direct problems associated with wild elephants, the association said.
“Conservationists, also those who do not hunt, have to take a holistic look at what needs to be done to conserve elephants for future generations.”
Napha said in order to do this, emotions have to be put aside.
It further pointed out that the expansion of elephant ranges does not necessarily equal availability of habitat.
“It may well mean that the original habitat where the elephants expanded from is either saturated or in such a bad state that it can simply not maintain high elephant numbers any more.”
Not elephant habitat
According to Napha, Uis is not elephant habitat. Neither are communal areas near Omatjete or commercial farming areas to the east of Grootfontein, it added.
“Any serious livestock farmer will make it clear to you that farming and elephants are not compatible.”
Napha said this is the environment ministry’s predicament which has led to the sale of the elephants. In the short-term, it aims to alleviate problems that are simply not bearable any more for those immediately affected, the association said.
“Sooner or later, we will have to ask ourselves whether we want to further degrade the available habitat by, for example, installing more and more waterholes in our arid country, causing environmental degradation and drawing people into wildlife areas.”
Conservation strategies
Napha added that the overall conservation approach strategies need to be revisited, especially in communal areas and in particular to maintain game populations outside of protected areas in communal lands.
It said the country also has to move away from thinking in numbers measuring its success in how many elephants there are and comparing these numbers to the presumed numbers of a century ago.
“It is of little to no worth having thousands of elephants crammed in areas that are a fraction of the habitat available in the early 1900s.”
Offers for the elephant sale closed on 29 January; however, the tender box has not been opened yet. It is to be opened in the presence of all bidders.
WINDHOEK
If the survival of elephants and other game species are to be ensured in a sustainable manner, Namibia has to accept that unpopular decisions, in the public eye, need to be taken.
This is according to the Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha), which issued a statement with regards to the public outcry about the sale of 170 Namibian elephants.
Napha said the sale of the elephants from different parts of Namibia has resulted in a major uproar, especially on social media.
At the beginning of last December, the environment ministry advertised a tender putting 170 elephants up for sale in response to the drought and the increase in animal numbers coupled with human-elephant conflict incidences.
These elephants are from the Omatjetje, Grootfontein-Kavango Cattle Ranch and the Grootfontein-Tsumkwe areas, as well as from the Kamanjab commercial farming area.
Napha said, bluntly put, the removal of the elephants from the identified hotspots will have no effect whatsoever on the elephant population at large.
“In no way does it jeopardise elephant conservation in protected areas or in communal conservancies.”
Emotional debate
The main problem is that it is an emotional debate by people who live detached from nature and far away from any direct problems associated with wild elephants, the association said.
“Conservationists, also those who do not hunt, have to take a holistic look at what needs to be done to conserve elephants for future generations.”
Napha said in order to do this, emotions have to be put aside.
It further pointed out that the expansion of elephant ranges does not necessarily equal availability of habitat.
“It may well mean that the original habitat where the elephants expanded from is either saturated or in such a bad state that it can simply not maintain high elephant numbers any more.”
Not elephant habitat
According to Napha, Uis is not elephant habitat. Neither are communal areas near Omatjete or commercial farming areas to the east of Grootfontein, it added.
“Any serious livestock farmer will make it clear to you that farming and elephants are not compatible.”
Napha said this is the environment ministry’s predicament which has led to the sale of the elephants. In the short-term, it aims to alleviate problems that are simply not bearable any more for those immediately affected, the association said.
“Sooner or later, we will have to ask ourselves whether we want to further degrade the available habitat by, for example, installing more and more waterholes in our arid country, causing environmental degradation and drawing people into wildlife areas.”
Conservation strategies
Napha added that the overall conservation approach strategies need to be revisited, especially in communal areas and in particular to maintain game populations outside of protected areas in communal lands.
It said the country also has to move away from thinking in numbers measuring its success in how many elephants there are and comparing these numbers to the presumed numbers of a century ago.
“It is of little to no worth having thousands of elephants crammed in areas that are a fraction of the habitat available in the early 1900s.”
Offers for the elephant sale closed on 29 January; however, the tender box has not been opened yet. It is to be opened in the presence of all bidders.
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