Namibia to auction 170 elephants over rising population, increase in conflict with people

Namibia has put up at least 170 wild elephants for sale, which it says is available for both domestic and foreign buyers. The country's environment ministry said that it is willing to sell the elephants to anyone who could meet the necessary criteria. The sale of wild elephants has been prompted by the increase in human-animal conflict and the rising population of the giant tuskers in the country. 

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According to Namibia's state-owned newspaper New Era, the country has witnessed a rapid surge in the population of wild elephants, which has resulted in an increase in human-animal conflict prompting the government to put the animals up for sale. However, there are certain things that the government will look for while selling those elephants to domestic or foreign buyers such as quarantine facilities, game-proof fencing, necessary permits from conservation authorities, etc. 

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Human-animal conflict

The human-animal conflict in Namibia has worsened in the past several decades as the country has seen a massive rise in elephant and other animals' [population because of the stricter conservation laws. According to the ministry of environment, the population of elephants in Namibia has risen from a little over 7,000 in 1995 to more than 24,000 in 2019. This has caused a rise in conflict between humans and tuskers

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Namibian government had earlier put up over 100 buffaloes for sale, which also resulted because of similar reasons, including a significant rise in cases of human-animal conflict and to control the population because of the limited grazing lands. Namibia had also auctioned several animals from the country's national parks due to diminishing resources after it suffered from a deadly drought in 2019. 

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(Image Credit: AP)