The government has ordered the killing of elephants to fight hunger in Zimbabwe. According to news agency Reuters, 200 elephants will be killed in 4 districts of Zimbabwe and their meat will be distributed among different communities. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority has confirmed this.
In fact, Zimbabwe is facing the worst drought in the last 4 decades. Due to which almost half of the country's population is facing food crisis. The entire crop of the country has been ruined due to drought due to El Nino. In such a situation more than 6 crore 80 lakh people of Zimbabwe are suffering from food shortage.
More than 68 million people in Zimbabwe suffer from food insecurity.
Also aims to reduce the number of elephants in the country Parks and Wildlife Authority spokesperson Pharoah said another motive behind the killing of elephants is to reduce the number of elephants in Zimbabwe's parks. In fact there are about 1 lakh elephants in Zimbabwe. However, the parks here have space to keep only 55 thousand elephants.
At the same time, due to drought, the balance between the country's citizens and elephants is likely to increase. Last year, 50 people were killed in elephant attacks in Zimbabwe. Before this, even in the year 1988 in Zimbabwe, elephants were slaughtered and their meat was distributed.
Zimbabwe seeks permission to sell ivory Last month, in the African country of Namibia, 83 elephants were slaughtered and their meat distributed to the public to combat drought. Zimbabwe, renowned for elephant conservation, has long sought permission from the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to sell elephants and their tusks.
Apart from Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia are also included in this demand. Botswana has the largest population of elephants in the world. This is followed by Zimbabwe. Due to the increasing number of elephants, people's lives are at risk here. They trample crops as well as small children in their path.
Zimbabwe has elephant tusks worth 5 thousand crore rupees. However, its trade is prohibited. In such a situation, the citizens here can get another means of earning by getting permission to sell elephant trunks.
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