Zimbabwe Has Excessive Number Of Elephants, It Is Hunting For Buyers

Zimbabwe wants to sell its wild elephants to any country that “wants wildlife”, the reason being the overabundance of the creature.

Sale Of Elephants

The plan was discussed in a summit by the African Union and the United Nations Environment Program. The country’s tourism minister Prisca Mupfumira informed that Zimbabwe is planning to sell its elephants to Angola and any other interested country.

With the total population of 84,000 elephants in the country, Zimbabwe has an excess of 30,000 elephants, according to Zimbabwe’s parks authority.

With this increase in numbers, the country is facing severe conflicts between humans and wildlife. Residents and farmers in rural communities often complain about elephants invading their lands and destroying crops.

As explained by the Country’s Tourism Minister, Angola is trying to reintroduce the animals to areas that were destroyed in the Civil War in 2002.

In May, Zimbabwe made $2.7 million from the sale of about 90 elephants to China and Dubai. At that time, the country’s wildlife agency said that the money from the sales would be used to support conservation.

Ban On Ivory Trade

At the summit, President Emmerson Mnangagwa also called for lifting the ban on the global ivory trade, so that the country could sell its ivory and rhino horn stockpile worth $600 million.

An international agreement bans the sale of ivory. But Zimbabwe and its neighbouring countries like Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, along with South Africa, are attempting to get the ban lifted. These countries constitute more than fifty per cent of the world’s elephants and have millions of dollars worth of ivory stockpiles.

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