Communities throw their weight behind culling
Victor Sibanda
VICTORIA FALLS- Communities in Victoria Falls and Hwange have welcomed the country’s request to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to cull elephants as their population has exceeded the carrying capacity.
Elephant culling is the practice of controlling elephant populations by killing them.
Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mangaliso Ndlovu told delegates at the just ended African Elephant Conference held at Hwange Safari Lodge that Zimbabwe has too many elephants which are proving too costly to manage. He called on CITES to lift the ban on culling and place countries with too many elephants in Appendix ii which would allow them to cull elephants and sell ivory.
” As you would know in Hwange National Park we have close to 45 000 elephants yet the carrying capacity is close to only 15000. In a very short space of time we will find ourselves struggling to contain the elephant situation,” said minister Ndlovu.
Communities welcomed the idea to cull elephants as the jumbos are straying into residential areas where they have so far killed several people.
Clement Mukwasi, a legal practitioner,academic and tourism industry expert observed that CITES need to take heed of the call.
” The elephant population has ballooned and this has caused them to roam into residential and farming areas where they have destroyed crops and killed people,” said Mukwasi adding that the prevalence of poaching is attributed to an increase in the number of jumbos roaming around Hwange District.
Wildlife conversation specialist in Sizinda communal lands, Mahlabezulu Zulu noted that food insecurity in the district was partly due to elephant overpulation. “The elephants are giving farmers in the villages sleepless nights. They destroy crops and damage water sources. Elephants are contributing to food insecuirty. Hwange National Park can no longer contain the growing population and if this is not addressed, ecosystems such as forests could be badly affected and this would contribute to global warming and climate change. Something has to be done about this urgently, ” said Zulu.
Villagers in Jambezi and Kasibo have also backed the campaign to have the ban lifted to allow Zimbabwe reduce the elephant population because human-wildlife conflict is worsening in their areas.
” The elephants have become aggressive in our communities because they are frustrated by lack of adequate pasture in the parks and fights amongst themselves. We will be glad if the elephants are culled because we are living in constant fear of them,” said Headman Simon Chabwa of Nemananga Ward.
CITES banned ivory trade and culling of elephants in 1998 and placed some countries in Appendix ii. Appendix i countries are allowed to cull animals and trade in ivory. Most African countries with huge elephant populations were removed from Appendix i. At the recent African Elephant Conference countries reaffirmed their commitment to adhere to sustainable resource use once granted an opportunity to conduct culling.
