Some 83 elephants and 30 hippos are set to be killed as part of a cull of more than 700 wild animals in Namibia – and the meat then distributed to people struggling to feed themselves.

The southwest African country’s environment ministry said the measure is being taken because of a severe drought.

The cull will take place in parks and communal areas where authorities believe animal numbers exceed available grazing land and water supplies.

Southern Africa is facing its worst drought in decades, with Namibia having exhausted 84% of its food reserves last month, according to the United Nations.

Nearly half of Namibia’s population is expected to experience high levels of food insecurity in the coming months.

With such a severe drought, human-wildlife conflicts are expected to increase if the authorities do not intervene, the country’s environment ministry said.

“To this effect, 83 elephants from identified conflict areas will be culled, (and) meat will be allocated to the drought relief programme,” it added.

Alongside the elephants and hippos, Namibia also plans to cull 60 buffalo, 50 impala, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebra and 100 eland.

The government has contracted professional hunters who have already killed 157 animals, yielding more than 56,800 kilos of meat.

“This exercise in necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens,” the environment ministry said.

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More than 200,000 elephants are estimated to live in a conservation area spread over five southern African countries – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola and Namibia – making the region home to one of the largest elephant populations worldwide.

Hundreds of elephants died in Botswana and Zimbabwe last year because of drought.

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