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The controversy about the hunting of the so-called desert-adapted elephants is continuing, with local and international outrage growing against Namibia following its decision to issue hunting permits for these animals.
Since reports first surfaced about a month ago accusing the Namibian government of issuing hunting permits to gain political support, a global campaign against the government has gained momentum and has now been fuelled by the recent shooting of the first desert elephant.
While the allegations of buying votes have been dismissed by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the controversy about the hunting of these elephant has grown in the past few weeks.
A campaign on social media was launched, with over 10 000 tweets being sent in a short period of time, and a rapidly growing petition to stop the hunting of desert elephants has gathered more than 12 000 signatures.
The issue has also sparked debate on whether Namibia’s desert-adapted elephant is in fact a subspecies and whether the population is at risk.
The killing of the young elephant bull in the Sorris-Sorris conservancy, north-west of Uis, on June 14 has resulted in a renewed outcry from the international community.
The young bull, nicknamed ‘Delta’, from the Ugab family herd was apparently shot near a local school with 200 children. He was one of only three young bulls in the Ugab family.
Environmentalists have criticised the killing of Delta as unnecessary and bad conservation practice when taking into consideration the various other options submitted to both the government and the hunting outfitter.
The government has apparently proceeded with the sale of these hunting permits against the advice of highly qualified scientists and conservationists working tirelessly towards the protection and understanding of these elephants in the desert.
Other options made available to the government included replacing elephant meat with beef for the villagers.
According to the ministry only four elephants have been included on this year’s game utilisation quota for conservancies. Two elephants are shared by conservancies in the Khorixas district of the Kunene Region and the Omatjete area in the Erongo Region, while the Torra and Doro !Nawas conservancies share another elephant and the Otjimboyo, Tsiseb, Sorri-Sorris and Ohungu conservancies also share an elephant. The elephant are for own use by the conservancies and therefore not limited to bulls. The quota is for a period of three years.
However there have been claims that seven permits have been issued, which included a trophy-hunting permit.
Source: Namibian Sun
Since reports first surfaced about a month ago accusing the Namibian government of issuing hunting permits to gain political support, a global campaign against the government has gained momentum and has now been fuelled by the recent shooting of the first desert elephant.
While the allegations of buying votes have been dismissed by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the controversy about the hunting of these elephant has grown in the past few weeks.
A campaign on social media was launched, with over 10 000 tweets being sent in a short period of time, and a rapidly growing petition to stop the hunting of desert elephants has gathered more than 12 000 signatures.
The issue has also sparked debate on whether Namibia’s desert-adapted elephant is in fact a subspecies and whether the population is at risk.
The killing of the young elephant bull in the Sorris-Sorris conservancy, north-west of Uis, on June 14 has resulted in a renewed outcry from the international community.
The young bull, nicknamed ‘Delta’, from the Ugab family herd was apparently shot near a local school with 200 children. He was one of only three young bulls in the Ugab family.
Environmentalists have criticised the killing of Delta as unnecessary and bad conservation practice when taking into consideration the various other options submitted to both the government and the hunting outfitter.
The government has apparently proceeded with the sale of these hunting permits against the advice of highly qualified scientists and conservationists working tirelessly towards the protection and understanding of these elephants in the desert.
Other options made available to the government included replacing elephant meat with beef for the villagers.
According to the ministry only four elephants have been included on this year’s game utilisation quota for conservancies. Two elephants are shared by conservancies in the Khorixas district of the Kunene Region and the Omatjete area in the Erongo Region, while the Torra and Doro !Nawas conservancies share another elephant and the Otjimboyo, Tsiseb, Sorri-Sorris and Ohungu conservancies also share an elephant. The elephant are for own use by the conservancies and therefore not limited to bulls. The quota is for a period of three years.
However there have been claims that seven permits have been issued, which included a trophy-hunting permit.
Source: Namibian Sun
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