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Africa : Namibia: Kunene region elephant bulls protest
on 2008/8/10 16:56:04 (42 reads)

A storm of public protest has erupted over Namibian authorities' decision to allow six Kunene region elephant bulls to be shot as trophies -- three of them true desert-adapted elephants -- in what critics are charging is a "quick-buck mentality" that could damage Namibia's reputation as a pristine tourism destination.

Like that of its fellow black rhino denizens, the elephant population in the arid Kunene region was decimated in the era of uncontrolled hunting in the Eighties, during which apartheid-era South African politicians hunted them from helicopters.

By the time of Namibian independence in 1990, there were only about 270 elephants left in the entire Kunene region, a 115 293km2 area. But the departure of the South African army and the implementation of community-based conservation projects saw their numbers bounce back and scientists now believe there are 760 of them.

However, of these, only 160 are considered to be true desert elephants, so designated because of their smaller stature and slow breeding, which can be attributed to their arid ranging area which receives less than 100mm of rain a year.

Their relative rarity in nature attracts thousands of tourists to the area to view the elephants moving on their mysterious paths along the dried-up riverbeds. The ministry of environment and tourism's decision to allocate a one-off hunting quota -- six elephant bulls to be shared among 12 local conservancies, three of these in the desert -- has been denounced as counter-productive, both by critics from within and outside the ministry.

This is especially so, as the ministry is, at the same time, allowing problem animals to be shot on "a case by case" basis, meaning that animals will be culled over and above the hunting quota, as a letter from the ministry's Kalumbi Shangula to local communities indicates.

In the period between September 2006 and September 2007 12 "problem animals" were shot in the Kunene region, reports circulating among NGOs suggest. The definition of what constitutes a "problem animal" is up to local communities, who are in direct conflict with the animals over especially scarce water resources.

This is particularly acute in southern Kunene, said Elephant-Human Relations Aid (EHRA), a local NGO that seeks to minimise conflict between local communities by constructing "elephant-proof" water points for local communities.

In this area EHRA director Johannes Haasbroek says there are only three breeding-age bulls -- exactly the same number the ministry has allocated to be hunted. According to EHRA figures, there are only 20 breeding-age bulls in the entire Kunene region, of which only five range in the sub-100mm rainfall area, he said.

"There is nothing sustainable about killing 40% of the remaining breeding bulls which is ignoring all the field research from us and the ministry's own officials," he said.

Not everyone agreed: Dr Keith Leggett, who has been researching in the area since the Nineties, said selective hunting of old bulls will not necessarily affect biodiversity.

"Hunting will not have a serious effect on the elephant population, but the combination of elephant hunting and problem animal control, may -- especially in areas where there is little input from overflow out of Etosha National Park -- have a serious impact on male elephant populations," he said.

Part of the problem is the very success of community-based conservancies, which have attracted more people to the rugged area with predictable rises in demand for income from natural resources in an area where unemployment remains high.

Trophy royalties have, as a result, become politicised, with conservancies standing to collect about R88 000 per animal from commercial hunting safaris, which in turn sell these to wealthy hunters for up to R250 000 per safari. Bagging a rare desert elephant bull, one professional hunter admitted, can attract a price tag of up to 50% more.

In a letter obtained by the Mail & Guardian Dr Betsy Fox, who formerly headed the ministry's Outjo offices, urged her seniors in April to rescind the hunting permits issued for the Kunene elephant bulls immediately.

Referring to earlier reports she had made, Fox warned that high calf mortality coupled with a slow breeding rate of 1,8 animals annually did not support the decision to issue hunting permits, a view that is shared by all her colleagues in the Kunene region.

"I think the ministry officials who approved these quotas are not thinking in terms of the best conservation measures for the keystone species in the Kunene region, but are succumbing to pressure from conservancies to earn quick bucks," Fox wrote.

The ministry, however, appears to be sticking to its guns -- none of its officials was willing to comment. Said Haasbroek: "It's open season out there on the last desert elephants."

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-08-10-namibias-quickbuck-mentality

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