Namibia plans to kill elephants for meat amid crippling drought: Report

Namibia, in the midst of a severe drought, plans to butcher elephants in the country in a bid to solve their hunger crisis that has affected around half their population - nearly 1.4 million people. Representative image: Namibia faces an extreme drought, causing it to plan to kill elephants to solve their hunger crisis REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi The African country's strategy involves killing 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, as a “necessary” means which is “in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens”, according to an official statement released by the country's ministry of environment, forestry and tourism, reported the New York Times. Rose Mwebaza, the director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Africa Office, told the New York Times: “Well-managed, sustainable harvesting of healthy wild animal populations can be a precious source of food for communities.” Southern Africa has been reeling from drought, with more than 30 million people across the region affected, as per the U.N. World Food Program in June. Benjamin Suarato believes that one of the major causes of this year's severe drought is El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with warmer, drier weather in parts of the world.